


Hol D U P MY DU DE

by Astroclicker



Category: Club Penguin
Genre: Skip is there because why not, a lot of oc's show up lmao, also this has a bit of an au but I ain't there yet, i will be updating the tags as I go on, time traveling happens lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2020-05-15 21:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 45,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astroclicker/pseuds/Astroclicker
Summary: The Jet Pack Guy gets caught up in a big mess





	1. Chapter 1

The night was gray and bleak, the bright colors that usually accommodated the sky were not present as large, gray clouds rolled over the island, covering the moon as they did. Like the clouds, thick fog rested upon the damp ground like steam from a shower as the wind whistled through the trees. It had been like this for the past 2 weeks now, and no one was entirely sure why, not even Gary knew. Through the murkiness, Rookie and Jpg walked home from work. Although usually Jpg would fly home, he decided to walk with Rookie this time, just to make sure he wouldn't get lost on the way home. 

Jet was honestly much shorter than Rookie. Really, that's an understatement... Jpg was the shortest in the office, being around at least 5’0. He wore a cream button up with a jet-black tie and black pants. Over his shoulders was his overcoat, which was stained in jet fuel, and his favorite lucky pair of sunglasses rested on his smooth, hairless head, his jetpack firmly attached to him. 

Rookie was much, much taller than Jet... In fact, he was tallest in the office, quite the opposite from Jpg. He wore a bright red Hawaiian shirt that was decorated with white flowers and wore dingy brown shorts that had visibly been mended hundreds of times. His face was covered in freckles, like stars across a night sky, and a small propeller cap rested on his dark black, fluffy afro – he also smelled like an omelet. 

Suddenly, Rookie jumped, and turned towards Jpg, remembering something he had forgotten to tell the smaller man. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out 6 keyboard keys and showed them off to Jpg, who didn't initially take much interest in the keys. Rookie smiled, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you but... um," he paused and breathed out a laugh, "I accidentally broke one of the keyboards at work today." He continued, scratching the back of his head, "I don't remember which one I broke." He admitted, staring down at the keys and thinking that maybe he should just find out tomorrow. 

Jpg simply raised an eyebrow at Rookie, and sighed, adjusting his shades as he did. "Make sure you bring them to work tomorrow, and to not forget them at home." Jpg instructed sternly. "I really don't want you getting into trouble for taking keys from a keyboard." he finished. Rookie simply smiled and nodded, shoving the pieces back into his pocket. As the two walked in silence, Rookie glanced down to Jpg, and noticed he seemed to have a lot on his mind. Jpg had his eyebrows furrowed as he stared down to the snow, biting his thumbnail and occasionally pushing his shades back up when they slipped down. Rookie tilted his head, opening his mouth to say something but-- 

Bleep, Bleep! 

Stopping in his tracks, Jpg glanced down to his pocket. He had gotten a text message. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, with Rookie stopped with him, a little curious as to what was up. "What is it...?" Rookie asked inquisitively. Jpg didn’t reply for a second as he read the message. 

'Jetpack Guy, I found something extraordinary! I need you over here as soon as possible! - G' 

10:34 pm April, 29th 2016. 

.... 

Jpg stared at his phone for a long moment and shook his head. "It's just Gary," he replied, "I'll have to go back to Head Quarters.” He explained, tucking his phone back into his pocket. “He wants me to see something important." He continued as Rookie looked down at him as Jpg finished explaining. After a short pause, Jpg glanced up at him and gave him a small shrug. "I will keep walking with you, though." he finished. 

Rookie smiled and nodded. "Alright!" He replied as the two continued to walk as slow as ever, talking about whatever came up to Rookies mind. About 10 minutes later, they finally made it into Town, from the looks of it. Jpg glanced around the surroundings, and from what he could see through the fog they seemed to be nearby the Coffee Shop, judging from the bright lights from the Dance Club. Rookie glanced around, taking off his triangle shades. "Wow! It's really foggier than it ever was before, isn't it?" He asked. 

Jpg nodded, also taking off his shades for a moment, obviously having a bit of a difficult time to see through all this fog. "Yes, it is." He replied with a sigh. Jpg dug into his pocket and pulled out a small red flashlight he had and held it out to Rookie. "I will see you in the morning. Take this flashlight with you and get home safely." Rookie smiled and gladly took the flashlight, turning it on with a click and briefly flashing it in Jpg's face. 

"Don't worry, I will!" He replied. Jpg flinched away from the bright light and blinked a few times, blinded for a brief moment. "Make sure you get home safely as well.” Rookie said with a bit of concern. However, knowing Jpg, he just knew that Jpg would make it home safely. “Goodnight!" He called out, beginning to walk away. Jpg nodded and waved goodbye as Rookie did the same. 

11:45 pm April, 30th 2016. 

Theverynextday~~ 

Dot sat at a desk, working on some kind of paperwork. She looked particularly annoyed and tired as she was writing, leaning on her hand and pausing every so often. Dot's cheeks being slightly red from frustration, and her peachy blonde, dyed hair, being slightly let down from her usual up-do hairstyle. She was a pretty short lady; although, she was taller than Jpg, being around 5'4. However, she wasn't quite sure what her exact height was, but being taller than Jpg she just assumed she was probably around 5'4. 

Suddenly, Rookie came into the room, pushing the door open and looking like he just ran a marathon, prompting Dot to look up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, Rookie... You're late, what happened?" She asked. It wasn't a strange occurrence that Rookie was late. He was usually late, to be honest. However, Dot simply wanted to know what exactly happened. 

"Oh man..." Rookie started. "While I was on my way here, I fell in a hole and my foot got stuck! I didn't even see it coming because of all this fog that's everywhere!" Rookie explained, saying he had to wait until someone came by to help him. Dot stared at him for a moment and tilted her head. 

"It took two hours before someone found you?" She asked. Rookie paused and simply nodded in reply. Dot paused for a short moment and hummed in response, looking back down at the paperwork and continuing writing. Rookie stood in silence, watching what Dot was doing, as the sound of other agents bustling around the HQ and talking amongst each other was heard. Seeing it was nearing lunch hour, almost everyone was eagerly getting ready to leave for the hour break. Rookie blinked and walked over to a chair and sat down, his walk having a slight limp to it as a result of what happened earlier. Sitting down, Rookie sighed and rested his chin on his hand. 

Suddenly, Dot perked up. "Oh, right!" She turned towards Rookie, catching his attention fairly quickly. "Have you seen Jetpack Guy at all today?" She asked. Rookie pondered on the question for a second. "He didn't do his paperwork last night or this morning. So, now I kind of have to take it over for him." Dot explained, glancing down to the papers. Jpg was supposed to be doing some notice papers and filling in the blanks to some paperwork some other agents didn't do correctly. He was also supposed to be disapproving and approving some new recruits that wanted to join the team, just based on their files about them. However, since he wasn't here, Dot had to do all of this. 

Rookie shrugged lazily. "Uh... No, I haven't." He replied, "I thought he was here already." He admitted. Dot paused and pondered where on earth Jpg could have gone. Tapping her fingers on the table, she sighed. 

"He must have gotten sick or something." Dot said a disgruntled manner. "It has been pretty bad weather for the past two weeks now... And you know how he is when something personal happens to him." Dot pointed out. Rookie hummed in response, nodding as he did. Soon, he began staring off into space as Dot turned back around and simply continued to work on the large amount of paperwork. Rookie wondered if Dot was right, and thought that if anyone would know it would probably be Gary, or the Director, seeing as how the two seemed to always be on a computer of some sort an-- 

Suddenly, Rookie jerked up making a loud "Oh!" as he did. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the few keyboard keys he had from last night. "I almost forgot about these!" He pointed out, dropping them and making the sound of clattering as they dropped to the table. Dot blinked at the 6 keys and raised an eyebrow. 

"Rookie, why do you have pieces from a keyboard?" She asked. Before Rookie could reply, a loud gasp from across the office was heard, startling Rookie and prompting him to turn around and spot an agent stand up and point at him. 

"So that's where they went!" They yelled in anger from the other side of the room, making some other agents nearby jump from their sudden outburst. Seconds later, Gary rushed out of the elevator and into Head Quarters, scanning the crowd of agents. His hair was dark brown, short, messy, and choppy, it also curled slightly, and looked as if he had pulled an all-nighter. His skin was a dark umber color, and he was slightly shorter than Rookie, being only 5'6. 

He glanced around awkwardly, thinking he had missed something, and mumbled a confused, "Um," realizing who he was looking for wasn't here. "Excuse me, has anyone seen Jetpack Guy today?" He asked. Agents looked around at each other, shrugging and mumbling as they did. Obviously, they didn't really know. Gary sighed, and walked back into the elevator in disappointment. The doors slid shut before anyone could ask 'why', leaving a short silence in the room before everyone went back to what they were doing. 

Rookie paused and furrowed his eyebrows in thought for a moment. "Um... That's weird." He pointed out, gaining Dots attention once again. He looked over to her with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't he come in last night to see Gary or something?" He asked. 

Dot shrugged and moved some of the paper around. "I don't know, Rookie. I wasn't here last night." She pointed out, going back to her work. Rookie sighed as a feeling of dread settled into his stomach as he pushed the keyboard keys to the Agent, who stood nearby and gladly took them back from him. Something didn't sit right with him after Gary replied... 

3:26 pm, April 30th, 2016. 

The day became much clearer and calmer than it was before. The fog had begun to somewhat dissipate, leaving the island in a hazy shine as the sun peered through the clouds and what was left of the fog. For the island, being calm was kind of weird; considering that the island had been in a constant state of partying and celebration for the past year or two with almost no breaks... So many takeover parties. 

Rookie finally found Gary in his lab. He was looking for him all morning and didn't think to look in the lab, and he wasn't quite sure why he didn't look there first. Where else would Gary be anyways? Walking in, Rookie saw the lab was brightly lit as usually, with the exception of some dimly lit corners here and there. The lab was pretty messy, like usual. There were papers and blueprints scattered all over some of the desks, as a pile of crumbled up papers lay on the floor near a completely full trashcan. A chalkboard that stood nearby was completely full with what seemed like many ideas, questions, and all the science-y stuff. "Hey, Gary!" Rookie called out, waving as he did. 

Gary paused what he was doing and turned around, looking like he had been at this all night. "Ah... Good morning, Rookie!" Gary greeted with a smile. Rookie breathed out a laugh and hesitated to speak. 

"Um... It's three in the afternoon." He corrected. Gary blinked and pulled his sleeve up to look at his wrist watch and stared at it for a long moment. 

"Ah... So it is." He said, breathing out a chuckle. The two stood there for a bit before Gary decided to break the silence, dropping his arms back to his side in a lethargic manner. "So, is there anything you wanted, Rookie?" he asked. It took Rookie a moment to remember why exactly he came here. Before he had a chance to remember, Gary suddenly looked like he had something to say. "Oh yes!" Gary pointed at him. "Rookie, while you're here, I've got something to tell you about the fog that has been here for a while..." 

He walked over to the large chalkboard with various writing and drawings covering almost the entire board and pulled it closer. Honestly, all of this writing confused Rookie, from how scientific everything seemed to be. Quickly, Gary began explaining, looking very excited as he did. "So yes.” He started, pointing at the board with some various doodles and words that was barely comprehensible. “All of this mysterious fog around the island seems to have both scientific and magical elements to it!" He stated, looking particularly upbeat by what he found. 

Gary looked over to Rookie for a moment and made a face, seeing how confused Rookie looked. "I know it does not really make sense; I'm still trying to figure out how that works as well.” He admitted, itching the side of his head and quickly adjusting his glasses. “So, I’ll tell you about the science side of this situation!” 

As Gary continued to explain, he began to throw his arms around as he continued, pointing at drawings on the board as he did. "What I researched and found out about this strange fog piqued my curiosity... there is something called 'cosmic strings' strewn throughout the fog." He explained, pointing at a crude depiction of the fog, which covered another crude drawing, but of the island. "These 'cosmic strings' are hypothetical 1-dimensional topological defects which may have formed during a symmetry breaking phase transition in the early universe when the topology of the vacuum manifold associated to this symmetry breaking was not simply conne-." 

"Wait, wait, wait!!" Rookie cried out, effectively stopping Gary as he did. Gary quickly noticed the perplexed look Rookie gave him as he struggled to figure out what exactly Gary was even talking about. He had never heard of the term before and tilted his head at Gary. "Cosmic strings? What is that?" Rookie asked. 

Gary paused and tilted his head, quickly finding a way to explain. "Oh... Well, cosmic strings are often described as cracks in the universe. These string-like objects are supposed to be thinner than an atom and may weed throughout the entire universe." Gary placed his hand onto his chin and thought for a moment. "They are also supposed to possess a massive gravitational pull, thus allowing any object attached to the strings to travel at super-fast speeds and by utilizing the gravity produced by pulling two cosmic strings together, you could theoretically propel yourself into the past." He finished. 

Rookie stood there, with his hand on his chin, slowly nodded in an understanding manner. Gary stopped and slumped his shoulders, staring at Rookie. "... You still don't understand what I'm explaining, do you?" Rookie gave Gary a bit of a sheepish look, apologizing to him. 

Gary sighed and slouched forwards a bit, pausing to think of a way to explain this topic to Rookie and stood straight up again. "Alright. So, there are very very.... Small space strings strewn throughout the fog... and because of that, you are able to travel through time really fast; and in this case, into the past." He explained, watching Rookie for a short moment. "Is that better?" He asked. 

Rookie smiled and nodded. "Ooh, yeah! I think I get it now." He paused and raised an eyebrow, his smiling quickly fading as he looked obviously confused. "But, why are they there?" He asked. Gary turned towards the chalkboard and pondered on the question. 

"That... I am not too sure about yet." He admitted, tapping his chin in thought. "I am currently researching about it! However, what I've gotten so far is..." He scratched his head and turned towards Rookie. "Well, the magic side of this may be the cause of the whole misty situation." He finished. Rookie tilted his head, asking what he meant by 'magic' and quickly Gary opened his mouth to reply. 

However, he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, causing Gary and Rookie to Look over and there they saw that Dot had entered. She looked drained and a tad bit overworked. Man, she must have had to go through a lot of paperwork if she's this tired. Rookie smiled and waved at her excitedly. "Hi Dot!" He called out. Dot just gave him a half smile and nodded her head in reply, muttering out a greeting as she came in. She glanced over to the chalkboard and raised an eyebrow at it, leaning against the table and simply decided to ignore it for now before turning to Rookie. 

"So, Rookie... Did you ever figure out where Jetpack Guy went off to?" She asked, looking back over to the board. Suddenly, Rookie perked up at the mention of Jpg, recollecting why he came here in the first place. 

“Oh yeah!" He said, prompting Dot to glance back over to him. "Gary, did Jpg ever come by yesterday night?" He asked, mentioning the message Gary had send the night before. Gary was pulled out of thought by his question and glanced over to him with a raised eyebrow. He hummed curiously at him, but quickly registered the question. 

"Oh. No, he didn't." He replied with a shrug. "He never did come by... I guess he simply wasn't interested or something." He continued with another shrug; disappointment clear in his voice as he turned back to the board. "He could have at least sent me a message to tell me he wasn't interested..." He mumbled. 

Immediately, Rookie felt a little puzzled at this. Jpg did say he was going to see what Gary wanted him to check out last night. Wasn't it important? Rookie made a face. Wow, this wasn't like him at all to simply skip out on something like that. 

Dot looked over to him, noticing he seemed bothered by Gary's answer and raised an eyebrow at him. "... Rookie, is there something wrong?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 10:48 pm April, 29th 2016.

Jpg waved goodbye to Rookie, turning around and sighing as he did. He was very exhausted from today's duties and simply wanted to go home and rest. Although, Gary said he found something 'extraordinary' apparently, and seemed to really want Jpg to see. So, he turned around and began his trek back to the Everyday Phoning Facility. He would use his spy phone to teleport to the HQ, but with all this fog? Worthless. The signal was too low, and it would be a bit of an annoyance to simply keep pressing the button, teleporting to random areas on the island, hoping to get to the HQ. That would take much longer than walking there, which would only take about 5 minutes or so. So, no; he would rather walk instead of going through a bothersome process. 

As he walked through the thick fog, trying to figure out his surroundings, he began to regret not bringing an extra flashlight, as he had given his only one to Rookie. Jpg sighed at the thought, shrugging it off and pulling out his phone to use his phone as a light source instead, keeping his view down to the snow so he wouldn't fall into a hole or something similar. As he walked, he thought about what Gary wanted to show and tell him, wondering what was so 'extraordinary' about it. Jpg wondered if it was an invention of some sort that Gary had thought up recently or something he found out. Maybe it was something he found out about all of this fog that had been plaguing the island as of late. Seriously, all of this fog was so annoying, he couldn't fly around with his Jetpack safely without the concern of flying into a building or the props from the game 'Jetpack Adventure'. They were still in the sky and the game was temporarily unavailable because of this fog-- 

Suddenly, Jpg was pulled out of thought at the sight of a strange tree he didn't recognize. The tree didn't look like the usual pine trees you would see scattered all throughout the island and looked... Strange. AS if it wasn’t really there. However, he shook his head and simply continued walking, turning his head left and right as he tried to look at the trees around him. Furrowing his eyebrows, Jpg thought the tree he saw not long ago looked like one of the trees that used to be all over the island all those years ago, but it had gotten way too cold for them to stick around, like around-- THWACK! 

Everything was suddenly engulfed by a blindingly bright light, disorientating Jpg. He stumbled from the flash and fell backwards, seeing stars as he did and ass fast as the light appeared, the flash was gone, leaving Jpg sitting in the snow, holding his forehead as he let out a hiss of pain. Jpg opened one of his eyes and glanced around and soon blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust. He shook his head, his shades falling off his head and falling into his lap. He glanced up and saw he had seemed to walk into a fairly large tree that would have been pretty hard to miss if he had been looking up instead of down. He frowned and patted the back of his hand onto his nose with haste, before realizing he hadn't actually begun to bleed; which was a little surprising, he walked so damn hard into the stupid tree. Sighing, he picked up his shades and lifted himself up from the ground, dusting himself off of the snow and mud-- Wait, mud? 

Jpg paused and stared down at himself, spotting how dirty he looked and immediately let out an annoyed sigh. Damn, he thought. The mud really messed up his coat. He should hurry to Head Quarters and get changed into some clean clothes. Now he would have to get his coat cleaned, and go through the most tedious process of dry cleaning it. He frowned and glanced around as he continued to try and dust himself off. However, his hands were also getting muddy, so he stopped, clenching his hands into fists to attempt to ignore the quickly drying mud on his hands. Glancing around, he couldn't exactly figure out where on earth he was... Obviously, the island, yes. He simply didn't know where on the island. 

He decided to turn around and attempt to find the island central again, maybe follow whatever lights he could see from the buildings in town. It wouldn't be that hard, he thought. He's probably still nearby the town, anyways, so finding the bright lights of the Night Club would be a snap. However, he wondered around for... Quite a while. It almost felt like hours, but he was most likely only here for about 15 minutes or so, but that didn't stop him from complaining to himself as he wandered around aimlessly, and by now his face was cold and a bit wet from the mist. 

Jpg was pretty sure he was lost. It was too bad he couldn't use his Jetpack to simply find his way out, but considering the dangers the mist presented, he thought against it. The weather was too dangerous. Soon, as he wandered around, Jpg finally spotted some lights and immediately became eager, quickening his pace towards them. Now, he could finally figure out where he is and go see what Gary wanted to tell him, to finally get over with it much quicker and go home so he could rest. He was so tired. However, upon walking closer to the lights, he realized something odd about them. 

This wasn't the lights to the Night Club at all! In fact, it was one of those old antique marquee signs, the only difference was that this sign looked much cleaner and Up-to-date, not the usual 'Old Antique look' most marquee signs he had always have seen. Reading what the sign said made him raise an eyebrow. In radiant, flashing lights, was the word 'THEATER' in large vertical bold letters, blinking in a pattern. "There no theater on the island anymore..." He muttered to himself in thought. It closed down back on June 5th, 2015. Also, it was called 'The Stage' not the 'Theater'. However, the way this sign was designed reminded him of the many radiant lights that appeared in the Music Jam parties. 

Curiously, Jpg decided to approach this theater anyway. It was possible some short party or event was going on, that suddenly seemed to happen. However, the Wilderness Expedition party was going on right now... So, it didn't really make sense to him why they would suddenly change their plans and scrap that entire party for another. As he walked, he glanced around the area, realizing there was nobody on the street, or anywhere in fact. It might be because of the late hour; he thought and disregarded the strange sight. 

Although, he did see someone standing in the ticket booth, looking extremely exhausted as they rested their hand on their face, reading some sort of book. From their looks, the person looked to be a guy. His skin was dark, but much lighter in comparison to Jpg and his hair a dingy orange color with a horrendous bedhead, sticking up on the left side of his head. He also wore something that looked similar to the outfit a bellhop would wear, but instead of the normal red color Jpg had seen, this man's outfit was mostly brown with some places like the shoulder area and buttons being a dirty golden color. 

The man didn't seem very threatening at all, besides the fact that it looked like if you were to say the wrong thing- Or anything in fact, they would get annoyed and possibly snap at you. So, with hesitation, Jpg approached the man. The man glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow and blinked at him. "... I was wondering when you would stop staring at me." The man idly pointing, not putting down the book he had. He breathed out a laugh and smirked at Jpg. "I was beginning to think you were possibly some sort of 'Drugstore Cowboy' trying to pick up dolls." He continued, obviously joking around with Jpg, pointing his book at Jpg. "I can assure you, I am no doll, Sir." 

Jpg blinked at him. "I'm sorry?" Was the only think he could think of saying. He was simply a little bit dumbfounded by what this man had just said to him. He could only assume he was joking, simply from the way he asked his question. The man leaned over, nearly placing his face up against the window of the booth, attempting to get a good look at Jpg. 

“Are you some sort of egg?" He asked. "Or some sort of flyboy?" He continued, looking Jpg up and down. Jpg stuttered and attempted to find his words before this man could bring up any other silly words to him. 

"A flyboy--?" Jpg shook his head and simply disregarded what the man had said. "Look, I'm sorry... But I kind of need help." Jpg started, glancing around as he did. "I have no idea where I am." He admitted, looking back to the man in the booth. The man looked up him lazily, raising an eyebrow as he did. He sat back down onto his chair and rubbed his eye. 

"... You're at the Theater in the Plaza." He replied, leaning in his chair a bit. "I don't know how you're lost, but here's a map." He dropped back down with the chair and dug underneath the booth, where Jpg couldn't see and soon pulled out a map. "It seems like you need one and I happen to have an extra laying around." He stuck it out of the slot and held it out towards Jpg, who accepted the map, feeling much to awkward to really deny the man. Jpg nodded once as thanks and placed the map underneath his arm for now and turned around, digging into his pockets as he attempted to find his phone. After a few seconds, Jpg furrowed his eyebrows and patted his jacket as he tried looking for it and soon breathed out an annoyed sigh. 

"Dammit, I must have dropped it when I walked into that tree..." He muttered to himself. He turned back towards the man in the booth, who was already back to reading the book and cleared his throat, getting his attention once more. "Excuse me, but you don't happen to have the time?" Jpg asked. The man looked up at him again and blinked, as if processing his question. Quickly, he furrowed his eyebrows and dug into his pocket, pulling out a pocket watch. 

"It's 11:57 pm April, 29th, 1916, Sir." He replied, tucking the watch back into his pocket once again. Jpg smiled and nodded, muttering a 'thank you' before his face dropped. He frowned a bit and asked the man to repeat what he said. The man looked up at him and flickered his eyes away and back at Jpg. "11:57 pm April, 29th, 1916." He repeated. "Are you perhaps hard of hearing?" He asked. 

Jpg made a face and glanced down in thought. 1916? No, that can't be right at all. This guy must obviously be pulling his leg, like some sort of April Fool’s joke. How gullible does this man think he is?! It's not 1916, it's 2016! Is this some sort of joke the others were pulling on him? Some really big April Fools prank the EPF had gotten everyone to participate in? Jpg furrowed his eyebrows at the thought. Why would they pull a big prank like this 28 days later after April Fools? "You must be Joking." Jpg said, breathing out a laugh and looking unconvinced. 

The man stopped, thrown off by what Jpg had said and glanced around, genuinely confused. "No...? No, I don't think so-- Look. Are you perhaps bent on something, sir?" He asked. Immediately, Jpg made a face, unsure if he should be offended or not. Before opening his mouth, the man leaned forward, putting his hand up and effectively stopping Jpg. "What's your name, mister?" He asked. 

Jpg paused and hesitated to speak. He glanced around, still extremely confused and expecting the group to come out and say 'Ha-ha, April fools! This was all a joke!'... However, nobody came. Swallowing, Jpg glanced back over to the man and breathed out. "My name is Guy." He replied. "The Jetpack Guy, that is." The man paused and raised an eyebrow, but simply hummed in response. 

"Uh-- Sure. Nice to meet you, Guy." He stuck his hand out of the ticket slot, out for a hand shake and nodded. "My name is Modgeruin." Jpg raised an eyebrow at him. He had never heard a name like that before and thought it was a little strange but didn't think about it too much. He had heard of much stranger names before. Jpg nodded back at him and shook his hand firmly. 

"It's nice to meet you to, Modgeruin." 

12:17 am April, 30th, 1916 

Despite the fact that the first thing Modgeruin had said to Jpg were possibly some insults - although, Jpg wasn't entirely sure if they were or not - Modgeruin seemed to be an okay guy. He told Jpg some history of the theater they currently stood in front of, since Jpg seemed to be new in town and it was a part of Modgeruin’s job to do so. Apparently, the theater was created back in 1806 and just yesterday on the 29th was the anniversary for the theater. Jpg had gathered that Modgeruin was actually a movie usher and not some sort of bellhop and thought it made much more sense now. However, he didn't really care right now. He simply just wanted to go home, but he had absolutely no idea how he was going to get home, considering he was apparently in 1916, for god's sake. 

The sound of a door closing pulled Jpg out of his thoughts and he glanced over to the sound. Modgeruin had closed and locked a slim door connected to the ticket booth and locked it with one of those old skeleton keys. He pulled it out and tucked it into his pocket and had his jacket hanging off of his arm. "I'm going home now, I'm off work." Modgeruin said, turning to face Jpg, but stopped and finally saw how muddy Jpg's outfit was. He paused and pointed at him and furrowed his eyebrows. "... You might want to change when you get home." Modgeruin pointed out. "You don't want to be wandering the streets looking like that." 

Jpg paused and looked down at himself and breathed out a sigh. He kind of forgot he was muddy and by now, the mud had dried for the most part and Jpg felt a bit embarrassed at the state his jacket was in now that he was looking at it. When he does get home, he will definitely change into some clean clothes so he doesn't have to be looking like this. Actually, thinking about it now, he didn't have anywhere to go for the night if he was apparently in 1916... And he had a feeling he was going to be here for quite some time. 

Modgeruin walked by Jpg, who was standing awkwardly on the sidewalk in thought and paused to look at him. "Look, Guy, if you don't have anywhere to go, there is a hotel just down the street that way." He pointed down the sidewalk, which was west. Jpg followed his finger and soon turned back to the Usher. "It's always open, just saying." Modgeruin finished with a shrug. Jpg nodded and watched Modgeruin turn on his heels and begin walking the opposite direction of where he pointed and raised his hand as a 'goodbye'. Jpg assumed that was the direction Modgeruin lived. 

.... 

Jpg stood on the sidewalk facing in the direction Modgeruin had left, now alone. It began to drizzle, as the fog had begun to dissipate, turning into a simple mist. Which was much better. However, it still felt like you were in a frigid steam room with every breath. Jpg sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling a little silly for getting so lost that he apparently ended up in the year 1916. He still had a lot of doubt of that this wasn't actually real and was just some big prank. How else would that usher have known he wouldn't have anywhere to stay? Looking around, the place reminded him of a city that was sleeping. There were bright streetlights which pierced through the mist, and the sidewalks were rough, wet, and grimy, with large buildings which seemed to be right out of a stage play he saw a while back. Just colored, instead of the black and white. 

He breathed out a laugh and nervously glanced around, wondering how on earth the island was able to change this fast. Possibly at light speed, considering the flash of light he had seen. Jpg rubbed his eye as his overcoat flapped about as a brisk gust of wind blew past him, sending chills down his spine. Suddenly an unpleasant smell hit him, making him briefly let out a cough from the smell. It reminded him of, Pastries, Pizza, Cigarettes, and something oddly sweet. It didn't sit too well with him, so he began walking just a bit faster. 

After what seemed like about 10 minutes of walking or so, Jpg came up to a tall building which was absolutely magnificent. It was tall and made of mostly stone. There were pillars at the entrance of the building, which were arched just above the doors, making it look fancy. The details of the building were beautiful, and Jpg wondered how someone would have the time to construct such tiny details on a building. Soon, his eyes caught a sign which looked similar to the theaters sign, but much smaller. It hung on the side vertically sticking out. Reading it, apparently this was 'Hotel Manchot.' 

This obviously must be the hotel Modgeruin was talking about. Jpg made a face and glanced behind him and back to the building as he walked towards the entrance. He still thought all of this was a huge joke and wondered how on earth they were able to change the island in such a short time. However, he didn't ponder on the question for too long before spotting a group of fancy dressed islanders hopping around on what looked to be a hopscotch as he made his way up the stairs. 

He stopped and watched them. There were three and they were all wearing tailored dark blue pin-striped suits. One of them hopped around as the other two were watching just nearby on the side of the hotel. The three were shrouded in shadows, making it hard to get a very good look at them, but Jpg was sure one of them was much taller than the others. Soon, one of them looked up at Jpg, seeming to realize that he had been watching for quite some time now. "What do you want?" The one asked in a gruff deep voice. 

Surprised from the tone of voice, Jpg raised his eyebrows at them and made a face. Their voice was a little unsettling, seeing as how they were apparently playing hopscotch at nearly 1 in the morning or so. Jpg cleared his throat and shook his head. "Sorry, nothing." He muttered before turning away from them. Jpg thought those individuals reminded him of something he couldn't... remember for some odd reason. It was on the tip of his tongue but it just wasn't coming to him and it really bothered him, it felt like something he should have known. However, he ignored it for now and stepped up the rest of the stairs and stopped in front of the entrance, placing his hand onto the door. He was a little hesitant. For all he knew, the entire EPF would be inside waiting for him to enter and give him a scare and laugh at his reaction. 

Jpg frowned and pushed the doors open and immediately, he was met with the strong smell of lavender and carpet cleaner, practically slapping him in the face and causing him to cough once at the smell. It was bright and lively in the lobby, with at least a dozen people wandering around the place, talking to one another, holding luggage. Looking up, Jpg saw a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling, shimmering in its own golden light as it dangled in the middle of the hotel lobby. Off to the side of him, geraniums bloomed in fancy looking pits and were mounted onto the white painted walls. There were also some tiny yellow chrysanthemums in the center of a wooden table just to the right of the lobby. The floors glimmered and shined from the lights and Jpg thought that most likely the staff had come around and recently finished cleaning the floors. 

Listening closely, music could be heard playing softly from down the hall and Jpg had no idea what kind of song it could have been. Although, obviously, it sounded like a vintage song he had heard so long ago when the Penguin Band decided to play some old songs a while back. Light rain could be heard hitting the windows of the building and Jpg thought it was a good thing he got here when he did. However, looking around Jpg realized that this was a real fancy looking hotel, and he couldn't help but feel nervous as he glanced around. He still expected his co-workers to come out and scare him but... It seemed like that wasn't going to happen and immediately, he began to feel anxious once he realized. 

Soon, Jpg spotted a lady sitting down on one of those long seats, seeming to be waiting for something. She wore a dark-gray cloth hat with a brown buckle stretched across it. Underneath her hat, her hair was a dark red and looked to be in a bob cut. Her dress was dark olive-green. Although, her dressed seemed more like a long overcoat than that. Underneath she wore a long-sleeved laced shirt which reached up to her neck, almost like a turtle neck, where there was also a little black bow around her neck, like a choker of some kind. Underneath that, she wore a dark maroon tank top and also wore a long skirt that reached the floor and was a much darker shade than the overcoat like dress she wore. She also had a dark grey piece of fabric tied around her waist. Her skin was dark. 

She seemed to have noticed Jpg standing at the entrance, awkwardly glancing around as if he didn't know what to do and she motioned her arm at him, silently telling Jpg to come over. Jpg paused and glanced around him, trying to see if she was talking to someone else but it seemed she was talking to him. He looked back over to her and pointed at himself as if he were saying 'me?'. She nodded in response. Hesitantly, Jpg walked towards her, the lady smiling at him politely as he approached. Her smile was a little crooked, Jpg noticed. "... Hello." Jpg greeted awkwardly. He was never really good at talking to others, especially when they were the one who started the conversation and if he didn't know them at all. 

She tilted her head at him. "Hello there." She greeted. "You seem lost... Are you doing okay?" She asked. Jpg paused and briefly glanced around the room. He didn't want to admit that he was pretty lost, but mostly because he had no idea what was going on. He shook his head in reply. 

"I'm fine." He replied. "Although... I do need help." he admitted. Jpg paused for a short moment, attempting to find what he actually needed help with. He glanced over to the front counter and blinked before looking back over to the lady. If he was apparently in 1916, they had to be taking a different sort of currency at this time. He squinted at a thought. Could this possibly be a whole test on him by the Director? He wouldn't put it past her to make some sort of really obscure and out of hand sort of test... Well, if she were to be working with Gary, then of course it's going to be like this. He tilted his head at the lady. "What kind of currency does this Hotel take?" He asked. 

The lady paused, seeming to be surprised from his question. Soon, she chuckled at his question, covering her mouth as she did. "Oh, my dear!" She started. "They take coins, darling!" She finished. Jpg couldn't help but feel relieved, sighing as he did. He had no idea what he would have done if they didn't take coins... They were all he had and he honestly didn't really know if his coins would have been cheap or not. Quickly, a thought came through, which made him stop. She probably wasn't talking about the coins he had on hand. He shrugged and thought that he'll find out in a bit. He did remember seeing a different sort of coin back when he was taking history in high school. Although, he couldn't exactly remember anything that happened in that class right now. 

The lady noticed Jpg's hesitation and tilted her head at him. "Is there something wrong?" She asked. "Would you like me to come up to the desk with you?" Jpg stuttered and was given no chance to reply before the lady stood up from her seat, gently taking Jpg by his arm and guiding him to the desk. Jpg simply let himself be guided. She probably knew a lot about the hotel, so she would most likely help in this... strange test. He idly wondered how long this test would go on for, and if he would even be given any sort of clue on what he was going to learn. Suddenly, the lady turned towards him, looking a bit embarrassed. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" She breathed out a laugh. "You don't even know my name, do you?" She asked. 

Jpg paused and shook his head. "No, I don't think you told me." He replied. Honestly, he didn't really know why he needed to know her name. If this were a test, then this would be quite... Pointless. She stopped them both and turned towards Jpg, adjusting her dress and hair in a quick movement before stopping and clearing her throat. 

"My name is Dimeena." She announced. "It's to meet you--...?" She stopped, her voice doing the thing where you know she's basically asking for a name. Jpg paused, taking a few moments to realize what Dimeena was asking for. Quickly, once he realized, he cleared his throat and adjusted his shades. 

"Guy." He said, glancing away as he did. He thought he said that in a much more awkward way than he anticipated to be and avoided eye contact with Dimeena as he realized how silly his name must have sounded and quickly thought of how that movie usher reacted to his name. 

"Oh, Guy?" She nodded and bowed her head slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Guy." She said with a smile. Jpg shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat. Quickly, Dimeena got the message and smiled. "Alright, to the desk!" She said, turning on her heels and quickly making her way to the desk with Jpg following just behind. Jpg still had no idea what was going on but decided to go with it for now. 

At the desk, an employee sat there, reading a book. They looked tired and seemed very annoyed at the moment and kind of made Jpg feel a little... nervous; of course, he didn't really show he was. He was usually very good at not showing how he feels... Usually. The employee glanced up and saw the two approaching and muttered something Jpg couldn't hear. They sat up straight and got ready to greet the two. Not long after, Jpg and Dimeena stopped in front of the desk and quickly, Jpg observed the employee. Their uniform was Purple and Pink, Purple being the main color here as the Pink was sort of like the highlights. It reminded him of someone he knew and saw before. However, the thought simply wasn't coming to him and it really irritated him. 

"Hello, Welcome to the Hotel." The employee greeted. "How can I help you two this evening?" They asked. The tone of their voice sounded like they were so irritated and Jpg felt like just turning around to leave, he honestly didn't want to bother them but... If this whole thing was a test to him, then he would have to interact with them. Soon, before he could speak, Dimeena smiled at the employee. 

"Good evening, can he get one room?" She asked. The employee simply nodded and turned around to face a cork board behind them where a bunch of keys were hanging, each one having the room number just on top written on some sort of sticker in some fancy writing. Jpg paused to think about how much a room would cost and judging from how ornate this hotel seemed to be, the price was possibly around 1,000 coins just for night. Jpg kind of regretted coming here if that was the case, but he would be able to afford it. He thought about going out tomorrow to find a different hotel, just in case this hotel was around 1,000 coins. 

"That'll be 15 coins." The employee suddenly said, placing the key down onto the counter. Jpg stopped and stared at the employee, surprised. He glanced over to Dimeena, who also gave the same surprised look. She pursed her lips and breathed out a laugh and turned to face Jpg. 

"That's pretty expensive..." She pointed out, glancing away to think about something. Again, Jpg was surprised by her reaction and thought about why this place was so cheap. However, he remembered something that made him realize what was going on. If this really was the 1900's, then everything would be at an insanely low price. He had to keep that in mind. Jpg raised an eyebrow and reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple of coins. About 5 of them, most of his coins were in his other pocket. He placed down the coins and dug into his other pocket and soon stopped once he realized the employee and Dimeena were staring in bewilderment. He glanced over to Dimeena and saw what she pulled out and quickly pulled his hand out of his pocket, looking over to his coins he had and back to hers. She was holding silver coins. 

There was a short pause between the three before the employee looked up at Jpg and immediately looked like they were thrown into some sort of panic as they suddenly swept the coins into their hand and started scrabbling around the desk to find something. Their reaction made Jpg and Dimeena step back in surprise as the employee jumped over the counter and stumbling a bit when they landed. Jpg couldn't help but think he did something wrong but the thought went away once the employees attitude changed towards him. The guided him away and held up another key as they began ranting something about the rooms in the hotel, making Jpg turn towards Dimeena. She just chuckled at him and waved goodbye, turning on her heels and walking back to the seat she was on previously. 

"Geese, I'm so sorry, Sir." The employee started. "I can get you a room right away, I got the key right here, and I can take you to your room immediately!" They continued, guiding Jpg towards the elevator. Jpg stuttered and soon yanked himself away from the employee, who stopped and looked at Jpg with a confused look. "Is there something wrong, sir?" The employee asked. 

Jpg stepped back. "Yes, there is!" He said, before breathing out. “Can you please stop pulling me around like that?" Jpg said, with annoyance and paused, glancing around nervously. "I just... May I have just a normal room?" He requested, rubbing the back of his neck. Judging from the key the employee pulled out which looked much fancier than the rest of the keys on the board behind the desk, he assumed the employee was going to get him one of those very fancy rooms and he didn't really want that. He looked back over to the employee and saw the disappointed look they gave him before shrugging. 

"Alright then, I'll get you a different room, Sir." They replied. Their voice had an obvious 'you're missing out' sort of tone to it and Jpg didn't really like that but ignored it. They walked back to the desk and went around back behind. Jpg couldn't help but feel annoyed at the way the employee suddenly changed their attitude towards him after seeing those 5 coins he pulled out and sighed through his nose.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 12:58 am April, 30th, 1916

"HOLINTOP!" The employee suddenly yelled, their voice echoing throughout the lobby and making Jpg and some other guests nearby jump at the sudden outburst. About a moment later, a disheveled looking fellow came rushing out of a nearby room; what was assumed to be a public bathroom. His hair was a short, dark brown, and it stuck up on one side. Almost as if he had slept on one side for far too long, or it was just a huge cowlick. His skin was also dark, but much lighter than his hair. This guy was probably doing something pretty hefty not long ago, seeing that his skin was slick with sweat. He wore a pinkish-red vest with a purple collared shirt underneath. There was also a pocket watch in his vest pocket. His pants followed the same colors and had the same pinkish-red stripes on the sides. 

The employee reached over the counter and pulled Holintop closer, dusting off his shirt for him and giving a look as they did. "Jesus, Holintop. You look like a mess, what were you even doing?" They asked, moving and dusting their own hands off onto their shirt. 

Holintop paused and breathed out a nervous laugh and glanced down at himself, as if he didn't realize he even looked messy in the first place. "Oh... Sorry about this." He started, adjusting his vest a bit and messed around with his hair. He breathed in and hesitated for a moment before wiping his nose. "I was cleaning the restroom and... Someone in the nearby booth--" Immediately, the employee put their hand up, screwing their face up in disgust as they made a noise, which seemed to stop Holintop. 

"Alright, I don't want to know." They said before leaning towards Holintop and pulling him closer. They pointed at Jpg and whispered. "You see that Chrome-dome over there...?" They asked. Holintop made a face and paused for a long moment before simply nodding. The employee furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Holintop’s face and frowned. "No, no, not that way, fat head!" They pointed again at Jpg, who was just standing there at a good distance away from the two, nearby an elevator. He glanced away from the two, obviously knowing they were talking about him. 

Holintop smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I see." he said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, but the employee didn't seem to notice. They nodded and pulled Holintop closer to the point they were practically touching faces and Holintop made a face as they did that while staring at Jpg, who was getting increasingly more and more uncomfortable the more they stared and pointed at him. 

"Yeah, he's by the elevator. I want you to take him to Room 318 and get him settled in." The employee said. Holintop pursed his lips and nodded slowly and soon, the employee began nodding as well as they simply continued to stare at Jpg. After a moment, the employee stood straight up and lightly pushed Holintop away. "Well? What are you waiting for?" They began patting Holintop’s back, urging him to do what he was told. "Go, Go!" 

Holintop jumped straight back up and nodded as the employee patted him. "Oh, right, right, right!" He began rushing towards Jpg, but was grabbed by the back of his shirt and pulled back. The employee gave the key to Holintop and called him a fool for forgetting to grab the key. They let go of him again before grabbing once more, forgetting to say something else. 

"Try to get him a clean suit and bring down his to get it cleaned." The employee whispered. Holintop nodded again and was lightly pushed away, urging Holintop to get a move on. He stumbled a bit when he was pushed but was able to balance himself out. Holintop straightened out his vest and walked towards Jpg. 

He approached with uncertainty while glancing around as he did. "I'm sorry, but you are you the 'Chrome-Dome' my boss was talking about?" He asked all nonchalant. Jpg frowned at his words and stopped. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he should be offended by this and cleared his throat. 

"I guess so." He simply replied but, again, paused. "Wait-- That's your boss?" He asked, tilting his head as he did. Holintop stifled a laugh and completely ignored his question, walking by Jpg and towards the elevator. 

"Okay, I'll be taking you to your room." Holintop said, shuffling over to the doors and pressing both of the buttons. Jpg sighed and adjusted his glasses as the two waited for the elevator to come down. He looked up and saw the little arrow going down, coming from the 5th floor and soon, the doors opened. Holintop stepped aside and put his hand out, letting Jpg go first, who just awkwardly shuffled past. Holintop didn't seem to notice how awkward Jpg was being and was simply staring off into the distance. Jpg simply nodded, muttering a 'thank you' to Holintop, who also nodded and smiled back. 

He followed Jpg in and again, the two stood in silence. The idle bell noise would occasionally interrupt the silence as they ascended upwards. Jpg glanced over to Holintop, who was just staring up at something in the elevator with his hands behind his back and Jpg couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity. He wasn't sure why and he simply couldn't figure out if he had seen him from somewhere before. But that would be... Impossible? Jpg squinted at the thought. He still thought of this entire thing being a big prank and he glanced around for any cameras in the elevator, just in case the Director or Gary was actually watching and keeping an eye on him. He wouldn't put it past them to do something like that. 

Jpg glanced back to Holintop, who had his head tilted as his eyes wondered around. Squinting at him, Jpg just couldn't get that familiar feeling away. He just knew he saw Holintop from somewhere before and it really bothered him and-- The elevator stopped, pulling Jpg out of thought and making him realize he had been staring for a bit now and he quickly looked away from Holintop and nervously adjusted his shades. Although, Holintop didn't seem to notice at all and casually walked by him, gesturing his hand at Jpg to follow. So, he did and walked out with him, glancing around the hall before tripping over a fairly large gap between the floor of the hotel and the elevator. 

"Oh, whoops!" Holintop quickly grabbed Jpg by his sleeve and helped him, Jpg quietly cursing to himself as he let himself be pulled out. Jpg muttered a thank you and apologized for tripping. Holintop simply smiled and patted his back once. "It's okay, it's not your fault!" he said, looking up at the doors as they closed behind them. "The elevators are not as... 'Decked out' as the rest of the hotel." He finished, turning on his heels and walking up ahead. 

Jpg trailed behind him and noticed Holintop let his fingers drag against the wall, in a way where it wouldn't create an irritating sound. Every door they passed Jpg also noticed how Holintop seemed to raise his arm with every door they passed, touching the numbers of the door and then quickly putting his arm back down. 

Not long after, Holintop stopped and spun around and quickly rubbed the back of his hand on his nose. Jpg sort of jumped at the sudden stop, being distracted from Holintop’s subtle movements. "Well, we're here at your room, sir!" Holintop announced. He quickly dug into his pocket of his pants and pulled out a key that had the numbers '318' etched out on it. "I was also told to bring you a different suit. Your current one seems to be... Well, quite dirty." Holintop just pointed out. Jpg paused and cleared his throat. 

"N-No, I don't think that will be necessary--" 

"No, no, I insist." Holintop interrupted, leaning forwards a bit as he did. He paused for a short moment and blinked a few times before standing straight back up. "I also noticed you don't have any sort of luggage either?" He asked. Jpg looked down at his hands and shifted awkwardly, simply shaking his head. 

"No, I don't have any." He replied. Holintop simply raised an eyebrow but simply shrugged and nodded, saying that it's fine and sort of stood there for a short moment. Jpg again shifted awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "Um... Can I have my room key, please?" He asked. Holintop jumped, seeming to forget about that and fumbled around with the key for a short moment. 

"Oh, oh, I'm so sorry about this!" He nearly dropped it as he turned towards the door and attempted to open it, missing the lock a good few times. Jpg sort of watched him fumble around and offered help and saying he could simply do it himself. However, Holintop put his hand out, rejecting his help and continued to do it himself, much to Jpg's dismay. Soon, the key went in and immediately, Holintop smiled. "Ah-ha! I got it!" Finally, he pushed the door opened for Jpg to enter, handing the key to him. Jpg breathed out a sigh of relief and entered the room, with Holintop following just behind. 

"Terribly sorry about this, but I need to get your measurements for your new suit." He pointed out. Jpg turned and opened his mouth to reject the offer but soon sighed. He knew that Holintop would simply press on the subject and try to persuade him and Jpg wasn't looking forward to that and was simply to tired too even deal with that right now. So, he sighed in defeat and nodded. 

"Fine." He said, crossing his arms as he did. Holintop smiled and quickly dug into his pocket, pulling out a measuring tape and ushering Jpg more into the room, closing the door behind him. Soon, it simply devolved to Holintop circling Jpg, measuring his arms, waist, legs, and neck. He told Jpg to turn many times and now only in his dress shirt and boxer shorts, having to take off his coat and pants for them to be cleaned later. Holintop was finally done and wrote down each of the measurements onto a scrap piece of paper and shoved it into his pocket, along with the measuring tape. 

"Okay. So, I’m finished here and in a couple hours, your tailored suit will be finished!" Holintop said with a smile, pulling out a silver pocket watch from his vest pocket to take a look at the time. He touched it with his thumb and paused for a long moment. During that time Jpg raised an eyebrow at the watch. It was honestly a pretty neat looking thing. It was very intricate and very shiny and he wondered if Rookie would really like something like that... Maybe if Rookie had a watch, he would get some sort of sense of time at least. 

"It won't be done until sometime in the afternoon?" Holintop asked himself before shutting the watch and tucking it back into his vest. "But It is two in the morning... So, I should go now." He breathed out a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm terribly sorry for keeping you awake this late, sir." He apologized. Jpg simply replied, saying it was fine and at first didn't feel very tired at all until Holintop mentioned the time. A sudden large wave of fatigue washed over him, causing him to yawn in response. "I'll be going now. Goodnight, sir." Holintop smiled and bowed his head, turning on his heels and walking towards the door, opening it and suddenly walking into the edge of the door, emitting a loud bang. 

Jpg jumped at the sound and turned. "Oh my god, are you okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned. Holintop put his hand onto his face and let out a quiet hiss of pain as he raised his other hand, as if trying to stop anyone nearby. Immediately, he assured he was fine and laughed at himself before saying goodnight once more. Jpg stepped over to him, trying to see if Holintop really was okay. It sounded like he walked into the door pretty hard, but before he got the chance to check, Holintop closed the door, the door closing with a soft click. 

Jpg stood in the room alone and rubbed the back of his neck. He felt bad for Holintop and really wanted to know if he really was okay. But it seemed like he was the type to avoid help and he kind of reminded Jpg of himself. He made a face and sighed. Oh well, now that he finally has a room, he could finally sleep like he wanted all those hours ago. He still couldn't help but feel like all of this was just some big stupid elaborate joke that everyone was pulling on him and he simply decided to go on with it, since everyone else seemed to be really into this... Strange role play they were doing. However, he didn't think that Holintop walking into the door was a part of the plan. He shook his head and sat down onto the bed, glancing around the room as he did. He tried looking for any sort of cameras in the room, just to see if his suspicions were true. 

However, he found none and sighed, making a face, a little nervous. Whatever, he thought, it was just time to sleep and he was just so exhausted from today and just wanted to sleep. He touched the bed with his hands and noticed how soft the blankets were and thought they were probably pretty warm as well. After a short moment of just feeling the blanket, he turned around and crawled onto the bed and reached over to his left and switched off the lamp, which was a pull string kind of thing, but this one had a metal chain instead. He shifted the blankets to the side and slid into the bed, taking off his shades and sort of tossing them onto the side with the lamp and stared at the wall. 

The bed was actually much softer and comfortable than he imagined it to be and he relaxed. Although, this could have been just because he was just so tired. He turned and stared at the ceiling of the room and listened to whatever noises he could hear in the hotel. There was someone in the next room, whispering about some sort of pays that wasn't paid for and said everything would start getting warmer within the week or two. Soon, the sound of the rain hitting the window drowned out the voice. The rain sounded much heavier than it was when he got here and Jpg thought this was much better than listening to someone else's muffled conversation in the next room and other miscellaneous sounds throughout the hotel. 

Soon, after a while, Jpg finally drifted off to sleep and the last coherent thought he had was the frustration of having to go through the events today. All he wanted was to go home and sleep, but all of this had to go and happen. He didn't really like it but he was too tired to be angry about it right now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4:07 pm, April 30th, 2016.

Gary stood in front of the chalkboard, just finishing up explaining just about everything you could see on there to Dot, waving his arms around while doing so. He filled her in with almost all what he found out and thought about him and almost every science side to the whole Fog ordeal. Honestly, Dot sort of spaced out throughout half the explanation, but was able to process most things he said. "Although, you would be sent back in time-- But it could be possible that you would be sent to an ever so slightly different alternate timeline or universe." Gary explained, tapping the chalk piece on his chin. 

Dot had waited for Gary to finish his sentence and as soon as he did, she turned towards Rookie, who looked he was lost in thought. Gary opened his mouth to speak and continue on with his explanation but paused, spotting Dot looking over to Rookie. He looked over as well and noticed the same look on Rookie. He still hadn't replied to what Dot asked earlier, her asking if there was something wrong. Rookie stared at nothing, basically. His eyes unfocused and sort of spaced out as he thought about what could have possibly happened to Jpg. He could be at home, yeah. For all he knew, the Director could be the only one who knows about what's going on with him. He was usually pretty quiet about his personal issues and Rookie wouldn't figure out until way later, if not ever. 

Just like what Dot had said earlier; Jpg could have gotten sick or something, that's all. He would never just skip work for any other reason than that... Well, if he broke his leg, Rookie wouldn't be entirely sure if Jpg would still come to work if that was the case. He did break his arm once and still came, but he imagine that wouldn't be the same. Would he have crutches or a wheel chair? Maybe crutches, knowing Jpg. Wait, what if that was the case? Did Jpg accidentally hurt himself while making his way over back here to the EPF? What if he was still out there and--? 

"Rookie!" Dot called out, startling Rookie out of thought. He quickly looked over to Dot and Gary, who were staring at him, waiting for a response he didn't quite hear at all. 

Confused, Rookie furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh. um... Yeah?" He asked. Dot shifted in her seat and apologized for startling him and scooted a little closer. 

"I asked this earlier, but is there something bothering you?" She asked, tilting her head as she did. Rookie paused and sat up straight in his chair, clearing his throat and soon rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous fashion. 

He shrugged and sighed. "Yeah..." He admitted. "I'm just worried about Jet Pack Guy, that's all..." Dot and Gary glanced over to each other and realized they didn't really give his absence much thought at all. Now that they thought about it, they realized how strange it was and completely out of character of him to just not show up to work without telling anyone. Gary tapped his chin with the chalk again in thought and pulled out his phone. 

"Hold on, I'll call him." Gary said, bringing up Jpg on his contact list. Rookie shook his head and rested his chin onto his hand with a sigh, saying he had already tried calling him and he hadn't answered. Gary paused, his thumb already hovering over the 'call' button on the screen. He sighed. Well, that's out of the question now, he thought. Soon, he thought of the Director and snapped his fingers. "Maybe the Director would know!" Gary said, quickly looking back down at his phone and searching for the Directors contact. Rookie and Dot glance over to each other and watches Gary dial up the number and place the phone down onto the table, the dial tone echoing throughout the wood, which was the table. 

“Hello?" Said the Director, her voice being a little too loud. Gary jumped at the loud volume and quickly reached over, turning it down a bit. He didn't realize his phone had been at full volume. Rookie snickered at Gary's reaction, Gary clearing his throat and 

"Good afternoon, Director." Gary greeted, sighing through his nose. "I have a question." He continued. The Director paused for a short moment as the sound of paper being pushed aside was heard from her end. The director hummed in reply as she continued fiddling around with papers on the other end. Gary glanced up to Rookie and Dot and shifted in his place, looking back over to the board. "Has agent Jetpack Guy called in sick today?" he asked. Again, the Director paused, the sound of the shuffling paper stopping. 

"No, he has not." She replied. Immediately, the three looked over to each other all giving each other the same look of concern. "Is there something wrong?" The Director asked. 

Gary picked up the phone and adjusted his glasses nervously. "Oh dear... Well, this is a problem." He muttered quietly, turning off the speaker and turning around to speak to the Director privately. Rookie turned to Dot, his face pale as he now was sure that something wasn't right. 

"What if he was kidnapped??" He quickly added, obviously worried. Dot stopped and blinked at him, a little surprised from his words. She shook her head, doubting his words and explained Jpg wasn't the type to just simply let that happen. By now, they would have known if something like that had happened to him. Rookie paused and sighed through his nose, his mind still rushing around. But she was right, Jetpack Guy wouldn't just let that happen. "Do you think he got lost in the fog last night?" He asked. Dot crossed her arms on the table and slumped her shoulders. 

"If he was lost, he would have used his trusty jetpack to find his way back." Dot pointed out, rolling her eyes as she did. Rookie furrowed his eyebrows at the way she said 'trusty' and felt a bit offended for Jetpack Guys jetpack, but she was right and had a point. Jpg would have done just that. Soon, the two sat in silence, Rookie still thinking of the possibilities on would could have happened to Jpg as Gary spoke quietly not too far from them. Most of Rookies thoughts and possibilities were ridiculous and only a few were a bit rational. 

Rookie looked over to Dot. "What do you think could have happened to him?" He asked. 

Dot paused for a short moment, thinking about it. She then sighed and shrugged, shaking her head as she did. "I don't know, Rookie." She replied. Suddenly, Gary turned around, dropping his phone into his lab coat pocket. 

"Okay, I have received orders from the Director to tell you that we have to go out and look for any sort of evidence on where Jetpack Guy could possibly be." Gary explained. Rookie immediately stood up, raising his hand as he did. 

"I know the last place I saw him!!" He said with certainty. "We went different directions when we got to Town Central last night!" He pointed at Gary and smiled. "Maybe we can find something around there that could lead us right to him!" He finally finished. 

Gary perked up at this and smiled. "Great, now have somewhere to start." He said with delight. "Now, let's go and get ourselves ready and find where ever Agent Jetpack Guy could be." Rookie and Dot nodded in response. Dot was the first to get up and leave the lab. Gary turned around and simply went back to pondering around his notes on the board and a clipboard, tapping his chin as he did. Meanwhile, Rookie thought about what could have actually happened, but soon decided to think about it when he gets to Town Central, where he last saw Jpg. Finally, Rookie left the lab, closing the door behind him as he did. Gary was to distracted to with the clipboard to even notice Rookie leaving and honestly, he probably thought Rookie had already left. 

As Rookie walked down the hallway, he couldn't help but worry about Jetpack Guy. For all he knew, Jpg could have been very well kidnapped by something; Like Herbert! Goodness, what would he even want to do with Jpg? Rookie shuddered at a thought and quickly buried it away. He continued to ponder about it as he walked, his dread increasing more and more the more he thought about it. He sighed through his nose and furrowed his eyebrows. "What if he got hurt?" He muttered to himself. "Where could he have even gone, anyways? It's not like he has anything to hide from or whatever..." He continued. 

"Where did who go?" A voice chimed in, causing Rookie to jump. He didn't really expect anyone to be listening, since when he came out into the hall, it was pretty much empty. Looking up, he saw Skip standing there in front of him, giving him a quizzical look. Rookie blinked at him and soon shrugged. 

“Hey Skip..." He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I don't know, I was just thinking about where Jpg could have gone to..." He chuckled at himself and gave Skip an awkward half smile. "I guess I said what I was thinking out loud." Rookie pursed his lips. He should have expected Skip to be nearby or something, he was usually hanging out around Headquarters, or was at the Hotel, doing something else Rookie was unsure of. It was a bit weird though, you could never find Skip when you wanted or needed to. It was usually him who was the one who found you. 

"Oh." Skip replied. He honestly didn't really care where Jpg could have gone to. Skip and Jpg never really got along, mostly because Jpg was sure Skip's 'redemption' was a whole facade, just to trick everyone. Just like what he did on Halloween, back in 2014. Although, most of everyone was a bit weary around him and didn't trust him for that reason as well. So, Jpg wasn't the only one who felt this way to him. Most would even avoid him to, despite what the Director had said. If it hadn't been for Rookie, Skip probably would have been 'taken care of' or whatever. Getting rid of him off of the island and putting him elsewhere. Skip was thankful for Rookie getting the Director onto his side and keeping Skip. However, he was on probation for quite some time and Rookie was the officer to be keeping an eye on him. 

Skip shifted awkwardly and paused to think. Since Rookie was his friend-- Well, his only friend-- He thought he should at least offer him help. "Um. Would you-... Would you like me to help you find him?" Skip awkwardly suggested. Immediately, Rookie looked ecstatic, giving Skip a smile and asked if he really would. Skip hesitated but slowly nodded. Rookie hopped up and down in excitement and made a sound. 

Skip hummed. "Did you check his house?" he asked. "He could be sleeping in and is just..." He shrugged and breathed out a laugh. "I don't know, having a difficult time waking up or something." Skip pointed at Rookie with a smile. "Or you know, he's probably bailing out of work today." 

Rookie thought about it for a moment and almost considered the idea but shook his head. "No, I don't think he would just sleep through the day..." He pointed out. "Or just skip work. He wouldn't do that." Skip sighed and crossed his arms. 

"Well, where was the last time you saw him?" 

Rookie smiled and pointed at Skip. "In Town Central." He replied. He began walking down the hall once again and turned his head to look at the Ghost, urging Skip to follow. Skip awkwardly jogged up to catch up with Rookie and simply trailed behind him. "Well, it was pretty foggy out last night." Rookie continued, looking straight ahead once again. "So, like... It was really hard to tell where I was." He explained. Skip continued to do his awkward jog, seeing that Rookie was walking pretty fast. He wasn't surprised though; Rookie was pretty tall and had long legs. 

Finally, the two made it to the familiar high-tech sleek elevator, Rookie reaching forward and pressing a button on the side. To be honest, Rookie always thought this elevator was a little intimidating, seeing how fast it could go. He remembered the first time he went on it and the feeling of butterflies he experienced when going up and down on this thing. It was great and it reminded him of some of the rides at the amazement park. Soon, the elevator appeared and the doors opened, both Rookie and Skip stepping inside. Rookie noticed Skip take a relatively large step over the small gap between the floor and the floor of the elevator and didn't think too much of it. That was a habit Skip had. Soon, the doors slid close and quickly, the platform descended upwards so the two could leave the Everyday Phoning facility. 

When two left the building, they immediately noticed how humid it was outside, even though it wasn't like this about an hour ago or so. Which was a little weird, it was usually pretty cold outside because of all the snow and all that. Skip and Rookie looked at each other and made a face at this, but soon shrugged it off. The weather has been out of whack for quite some time now, which had Gary going absolutely bonkers over. 

They walked in silence, the only sound being the wind and the crunching snow beneath their feet as they walked along. The sound of the ocean quietly washing up against the beach and the dock were also heard as they occasionally heard some Islanders in the distance talking rather loudly and laughing while every so often, they would let out a shriek which was quickly followed by laughter, as if they were playing and something funny had happened. 

Rookie glanced down to Skip to see if he was alright. Skip was nervously looking around, obviously nervous. Rookie knew that Skip didn't really like going in public at all and in fact, he technically wasn't even supposed to be out in public by the Directors orders, for fear that the public would completely freak out by the sight of him and would create a huge commotion about... And no one at the EPF really wanted that. 

Oddly enough, the two hadn't ran into any Islanders at all yet. Which was strange, since it sounded very busy out today and there was... Nobody around. It was as if there was some sort of phantom sounds going around, the sounds of people talking and walking as machinery worked in the background. However, those sounds were faint and were covered up by the ocean and Islanders in the distance. It was almost like you were imagining the sounds... Besides, it was Saturday! Usually there were quite a few Islanders wondering around, So, why wasn't there anyone around today? 

Finally, the two made it into Town Central and stopped. Rookie looked down to the snow and inspected it carefully in attempt to find any prints left behind from Jpg... However, there were many tracks from everyone else that day and Rookie made a noise in frustration, realizing that this wouldn't be easy at all. Even then, Jpg's work shoes didn't really have any sort of markings at the bottom. They were those fancy black shoes most came accompanied with suits, which was why Jpg didn't go outside much with those shoes on, only to go home with them. Rookie furrowed his eyebrows at the thought, wondering why he knew which shoes Jpg wore. 

Rookie sighed and stood back up straight and crossed his arms as he spun around slowly, in an attempt to find which way and path Jpg could have taken last night. Meanwhile, Skip stood stiff and twiddling his fingers as he nervously looked around to see if anyone was coming their way. He didn't particularly enjoy being seen in public all that much, considering what was mentioned not long ago. Although, as much as he would have enjoyed causing some sort of commotion and havoc, he wasn't looking forward to getting in trouble with Rookie and the Director... And possibly some other agents. To be honest, he wouldn't mind at all, but he just didn't like getting Rookie upset. He was his friend after all. 

Skip glanced over to Rookie and saw him squatting nearby a bush and practically digging into it, quietly asking himself if Jetpack Guy was hiding in there. Skip snickered at Rookie and turned away from him, thinking that he should start on looking for Jpg. "Rookie!" Someone called, making Skip jump and make himself quickly turn invisible. 

Dot and Gary rushed from the docks, seeming to have also walked over. Rookie turned his head towards them, confused who just called his name but quickly shot up from the ground and smiled, waving at the two as he brushed snow off his knees. "Oh, hey guys!" he called out. 

"Did you find anything with Jpg at all?" Gary asked. Rookie paused and shook his head in response, moving away from the bush he was previously looking in. He explained that he just got here not long ago. So, he doubted that he could have found anything within a few minutes. Dot and Gary sighed at the response and nodded. "That's okay, I'm sure we wouldn't have found anything either." Gary admitted. "Have you been searching alone?" 

"Well, I have Skip to help! He could be a big hel--" Rookie paused and turned around, realizing that the spirit was gone and quickly, he spun around in attempt to find him anywhere in Town Central. He frowned and stopped spinning and gave Gary and Dot an almost panicked look. "Oh no, now I lost Skip too!" he cried out. 

Dot stepped over to him and patted his back. "It's okay Rook, I'm sure he'll... Turn up." she said, pausing for a moment. "Eventually." Suddenly, just as she said that, Skip appeared out of thin air making Gary jump and yelp in surprise in the process. Immediately, Rookie looked up and smiled, seeming to completely forget what just happened. 

"Skip!" He cried out. "I thought I lost you too!" Quickly, Rookie ran over to Skip and grabbed him, pulling him in a tight hug. In surprise, Skip made a noise that could be called a squeak as he was hugged a bit too tight for comfort. Soon, Skip raised his arm and patted Rookie's arm. 

"Yep... I'm still here." He said, his voice coming out a bit funny from being practically crushed. He breathed out a laugh and again, patted Rookie's arm. "Um... R-Rookie, you can let go now." he said nervously. Rookie made a quiet 'oh' sound before letting go and quietly apologizing. Skip let out a humorless laugh and simply straighten out his jacket. Looking over to Gary and Dot the two didn't keep eye contact with him and quickly broke it, looking away in different directions. Skip admittingly felt agitated by their reaction and just turned back to Rookie. 

"Okay!" Rookie started. "Well, me and Jpg were walking by around this area..." Rookie gestured towards the Coffee Shop and then around the general area of Town Central. "I he said something about going back to the EPF because Gary wanted to show something important to him or something..." Rookie continued. 

"So, we should be looking over here, right?" Dot asked, walking over to the left side of town, which was the entrance of the docks. Rookie stopped to think for a short moment and shrugged, making the 'I don't know' noise. Dot sighed and crossed her arms. 

"Alright, I'm guessing we're going to have to split up and search everywhere around Town Central and possibly going towards the Docks..." Gary said. "But not inside the buildings and over there." He continued, pointing over to the direction of the Snow Forts. He then told Dot to search where she was standing, which was nearby the Coffee Shop. He also told Rookie to simply continue on with where he was searching, which was near the trees. Gary turned to face Skip, pointing at him before hesitating to speak. "Um... Skip, you can go look... Around there." He gestured around towards the bushes and trees, which was nearby Rookie. Skip rolled his eyes and began searching in the area Gary pointed out too. 

They all searched around for any sign of Jetpack Guy for quite some time. Going all around Town Central and into the shrubbery and even the trees. As they searched Gary considered to himself on going back to Headquarters and go and check out the security footage that were set up all around the island, but thought against it for now… Last night as way too foggy and maybe the cameras most likely did not see anything at all last night. Although, the idea was still there. 

The four of them did not speak to each other as they searched and were only left to their thoughts for the next 30 minutes and Dot was beginning to get a little antsy. “Rookie, are you sure Jpg and you walked by here last night?” she asked, sitting up and stretching from looking to the ground, breaking the long silence between the group. Rookie turned his head to her and paused for a short moment before throwing one of his arms up as if stating a fact. 

“Yeah, I’m sure!” he said, putting his arm back down and looking into a bush. “I can remember seeing the bright lights from the Dance Club just last night!” he continued, picking up a single lead and examining it. Dot sighed and leaned against the Coffee Shop building, letting her arms hang at her sides as she tilted her head slightly to the side. 

“Did you other two find anything that’s… Useful?” she asked. 

Gary sat on his knees on the ground just nearby the Gift Shop and placed his hands onto his thighs. “Uh… No, not really… I haven’t found anything.” He admitted. Quickly, he raised his hand and showed of a singular coin. “However, I did find this!” he announced with a smile. “And it was on heads!” Dot sighed and said that she didn’t feel like they were really progressing at all and that they were probably wasting time just aimlessly searching the Town Central. Gary nodded. “Yes, I also feel the same.” He admitted, standing back up and dusting his knees off from the snow. “I think we should go back to HQ and search for Jetpack Guy by using different means...” He said, dropping the coin into this pocket. “So, I suggest we should make our way back to Headquarters.” 

Rookie wanted to argue against them, but they were right. None of them were really getting anywhere by just looking around Town Central. Putting a tremendous amount of time into simply just aimlessly wondering around looking for any sign of Jpg in here was just going to waste time. Rookie nodded and stood back up from the ground, dusting himself off from the snow. “Yeah… Okay, sure, I guess so…” he said with a sigh. Suddenly, he paused and looked around, noticing that Skip was gone again. Slowly spinning in a circle, he made a face as he searched. “Hey, where did Skip go?” he asked, glancing back over to Gary and Dot. The two just made faces and shrugged as Rookie called out for Skip, only letting his voice raise so only anyone in Town Central could hear. 

A short moment passed and there was no reply from the spirit. Dot quietly sighed to herself, looking away towards the docks. “I guess… He just left?” she asked. Quickly, Rookie looked over to her and shook his head. 

“No, I don’t think he left. He’s probably around here somewhere…” he speculated. 

Dot breathed out and opened her mouth to argue against him before suddenly being cut off by the sound of Skips voice from the nearby bushes. “Hey, I found something that may interest you lot!” he yelled. Rookie jumped at the sound of his voice and pointed at the direction of where Skip’s voice came from while still facing Dot. 

“See, I told you he’s still be here!” he said with a huge grin before turning around and following where Skip’s voice came from. Dot stood there and looked down to her feet, a bit embarrassed that she was about to doubt Rookie and soon quickly followed with Gary following just behind. After a short moment and taking a turn around some bushes and trees, they found Skip looking at a pretty large tree, floating above a few tracks in the snow. The three stopped and took a look at the scene, a bit confused. Dot raised an eyebrow and itched the side of her head. There was a short silence before Gary looked up at Skip with a raised eyebrow. 

“What exactly are you trying to show us?” he asked. 

Skip made a quiet ‘oh’ sound and quickly dug into his pocket, not finding what he was looking for and going to the other pocket. “Yeah, yeah, Look, I found this.” He said, finally pulling out what he wanted to show off. It was an EPF spy phone and he showed it off to the others to see. Rookie paused for a short moment and pointed at the phone, recognizing it immediately. 

“Hey, that’s Jetpack Guy’s phone.” He pointed out and in response, Skip only raised an eyebrow at him. “Wait—That’s Jpg’s Phone!” he said with a smile. “Where did you find it?” Skip gave the phone to Rookie, turning around and pointed at where the tracks ended in the snow. 

“I just found it just sitting here around in the snow.” He stated. Rookie, Dot, and Gary looked over to each other, all giving each other the same look of concern. Dot crossed her arms and placed one hand on her cheek in thought, glancing back down to the foot tracks in the snow. 

“Why on earth was his phone just out here?” She asked. 

Skip only shrugged in response. “I don’t know… Jetpack Guy probably like his phone cold, I guess.” He joked. Dot laughed sarcastically and looked back down to the ground, viewing the tracks. Soon, Gary motioned his hand at Rookie, silently asking Rookie to give him the phone. It took Rookie a second to realize what Gary was doing but made a quiet ‘oh’ noise once realizing and handed over the phone to Gary. 

“Hm… It seems like the tracks sort of abruptly stop right here at the base of the tree…” Dot pointed out, looking up at the tree and slowly spun around to get a good view of their surroundings. 

“And if we’re assuming these tracks belong to Agent Jpg, it does not look like he used his Jetpack at all around this area.” Gary added, raising his arm up in an ‘all knowing’ manner. “If you noticed, the snow around here doesn’t seem to be disturbed from a force, aside from our tracks here.” He continued. Gary then explained how the force of a Jetpack would leave a mark in the snow, saying that it doesn’t show up anywhere around here. He then looked back down at the phone as Dot stared down at the snow, analyzing the scene. 

“There where could he have gone?” Rookie asked, looking towards Gary for an answer. 

Gary didn’t look up from the phone and gave a nonchalant shrug. “I’m not too sure…” he admitted. “But I’m sure we will find something on the security cameras back at HQ!” he said with a smile, quickly dropping Jpg’s phone into his lab coat pocket. The three quietly agreed with him and Dot and Gary pulled out their phones and teleported away back to Headquarters, leaving Rookie and Skip. The two looked towards each other and stared for a short moment before Rookie smiled. Skip looked away and stared down at the snow. Rookie patted Skips shoulder, leaving his hand to rest there. 

“Hey, I think you did good!” Rookie pointed out, making Skip faintly smile. “Alright, let’s get back to the HQ!” Rookie continued, letting go of Skip and walked forwards. Since Skip didn’t own a Spy Phone to simply teleport back to the HQ, Rookie began walking out of the small push area with Skip trailing just behind. They walked in silence, the only sound being the wind and the crunching snow beneath their feet, along with the sound of the ocean that quietly washed up against the beach and the dock in the distance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April, 30th

The quiet ticking of a clock ticked sat on a nearby stand as warm rays of light shined through the dark brown curtains, illumining the small carpet on the floor and a wooden stool that sat at the foot of the bed. It was the early morning and a quiet knock on the door was heard, waking Jpg. He stared up at the ceiling with tired eyes as he tried waking himself up. He blinked and squinted, seeing if the knock would sound once more. It really could have been anything, like a neighbouring guest bumping into the wall or something... Wait. Suddenly, Jpg sat up in bed and immediately viewed his surroundings. 

He had forgotten he was staying in a Hotel in the year 1916. Jpg furrowed his eyebrows, making a face as he looked around for the clock. Quickly finding it on the right of him, the small wooden analog clock ticked quietly on tip of a wooden nightstand showing it was 9:35 AM. Jpg glanced over to the window and squinted at the bright sunlight shining through, but thought it made the room comfortably warm, which was great. Looking to the wall, there as a painting or a picture of a tilted iceberg. It reminded him of all the rumours that were still going around the island back at home. Over to the left of the room, there stood a large bookshelf that only held about 6 books that showed nothing on the spines. Well, the bookshelf looked large for Jpg, since he was pretty small. 

Obviously, this room wasn't like his room back home. This room was much more... Cozy. His room back home was rather bleak; much simpler and blander. All it really had was the basics necessities that he needed. A bed, dresser; where the fishbowl containing Flash, the fish sat on top, a desk that could have been covered with work but instead had neat piles sitting on top-- That he did not complete just yet... There was also a cheap lamp that sat on top as well. Jpg sighed at the thought of his room realizing how depressing it must have looked to other people... However, he doesn't have much visitors anyway. So, that wasn't very important, anyway. 

Jpg stretched. "Oh man..." he mumbled, resting his face in his hands and soon rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. He was still so tired and was tempted to actually just roll over and go back to sleep since he went to bed so late last night. Turning his head behind him, he spotted his shades laying not far from the pillow and thought that he must have forgotten to take them off before falling asleep. He stared at them for a long moment before glancing around again, still in his stage of trying to wake up. 

Again, there was a knock at the door and this time it was a bit louder than before. "Oh, what?" he muttered, soon remembering the reason he woke up was because of knock. Well, now he knew it was actually a knock and not some noise from the other room or something. Jpg tossed the blankets off of himself and stalked his way towards the door. There were none of those peepholes that you would usually find on a hotel door. So, he had no idea who it could have been... Either way, he wouldn't know who it was anyway, since he knows almost no one here, obviously. He did meet three people, but that's not the point. 

Finally, he opened the door and there stood the employee from the desk-- Well, Holintop's boss to be more specific. He wore the same outfit from yesterday, the same long-sleeved Purple overcoat with a reddish-pink vest underneath. Now that Jpg was up and close to him, he noticed how messy the man’s hair was. His hair was dark brown and was sticking up on both sides of his head, with a little tuff of hair sticking up on the top. Jpg had to admit that his hair looked a little bit ridiculous. The man also had stubble on his chin and it was a bit patchy, as if his didn't exactly know how to shave correctly. He also looked a bit tired, as if he hadn't gotten much sleep last night. The man smiled at Jpg, holding a garment bag. 

"Goodmorn-- Oh." He paused, his arm lowering a bit. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he asked, obviously a bit nervous and apologetic. Jpg furrowed his eyebrows and briefly looked down at himself and realized that he wasn't wearing his pants. Immediately, a wave of embarrassment washed over him and he stuttered on his words as he closed the door a bit to hide himself. 

"Yeah, y-you did... But, it's fine though." He lied. He actually found this a little bit inconvenient. Jpg raised his hand, silently telling the man to wait a second and closed the door suddenly, quickly turning around and going over to the bed side to grab his pants and pull them on. Once they were on, Jpg went back and opened the door and the man still stood there, looking a bit confused. "Sorry, I just went to..." Jpg looked down and patted his legs. "To put on pants." he explained. 

The man breathed out a laugh. "Oh, I am terribly sorry for waking you." he said with a smile. "However, your suit is all done!" he explained, holding out the garment bag. Jpg took a moment to register what the guy was talking about and soon made a quiet 'oh' sound. It was done within a night? Jpg thought that was honestly impressive and... Oddly quick. He felt a bad for whoever had to work on this thing all night. 

"Okay... How much is it going to be?" Jpg asked. The man paused for a long moment to think, letting his arm that held the garment bag to droop a little bit as he stared into the distance in thought. 

"Hm... Well, since this is a three-piece suit; I think it would be..." He tilted his head side to side and made a face as he did. "Likely to be about 10 to 22 dollars." he finished. Jpg blinked and glanced away, thinking about how much he really has right now. "But, hey." the man started up again, pulling Jpg out of thought. "I'll make a deal with you... I'll make it to be around..." He paused for a short moment and gave Jpg a finger gun. "15.95 for ya'... Cause' I like you" he said with a smile. 

Jpg blinked and shifted his view to the garment bag and stared at it for a short moment. He was honestly able to afford the suit, even without the deal... However, that didn't stop him from taking the deal anyways, since he thought that he should probably save his coins and not... Carelessly spend them. Although, Jpg decided to play along anyways. "Wow, thanks." he said, sounding unimpressed and tired by accident. Jpg quickly noticed his tone of voice and cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck. Quickly, he spun around on his heels to get the money from his coat. 

The man let himself in, following Jpg just behind. He closed the door with a soft click and glanced around the room. "So, what's your name, Sir?" he asked. "I believe you haven't shared your name with me." he continued, sounding a bit amateurish and awkward. He placed down the garment on top the nearby desk and glanced around the room. 

Jpg picked up his coat from the floor and made a face. He thought it must of fell over during the night, since the last place he put it down was the back of the chair here. "My name is Jpg." he replied. The man tilted his head in response and opened his mouth. "Well, really it's Guy." Jpg interrupted, digging into his pockets. "Jpg is just a nickname I've been given." he finished, pulling out some coins and counting them in his hand. 

The man hummed in response and soon, Jpg hear him tapping something. Curiously, he turned around to see what the man was doing. "Everyone here calls me Mr. Levasseur." Levasseur said. "So, you can call me that." he finished, turning to looked at Jpg and soon gave him a confused look. He pointed at Jpg's jetpack and furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuse me, but what is this?" he asked. 

"That's my jetpack." Jpg replied nonchalantly. 

Mr. Levasseur paused and looked to have become even more confused by his reply. "Jet... Pack?" he asked. "What on earth is a Jetpack?" he continued with a head tilt as he made a face. Jpg paused and looked over to him, about to speak up before Levasseur spoke again. "It looks more like a bomb to me." he Levasseur finished, giving the jetpack a wary look. 

Oh my god. Jpg completely forgot no one knew what a jetpack even was in the 1900's. These things were not invented until around September, 2006. Jpg stuttered and turned to face him. "No... No, No." Jpg started. "That's... not... That's not a bomb." He assured, not entirely sure if that was convincing enough. There was a short pause between the two and Levasseur soon squinted at Jpg with suspicion, obviously unconvinced... Honestly, Jpg didn't really want to show that it wasn't what Levasseur thought it was. He didn't have his muffler and it would be so loud and most likely disrupt the neighboring guests. Also, it's just never a good idea to turn on his jetpack indoors. 

"Look, just... Trust me on that." He assured once again, stepping towards the jetpack and Levasseur. "I don't really think it would be a good idea to fly this thing indoors... Especially in a hotel." He added nonchalantly. Levasseur stopped and looked bewildered and perplexed at the mention of 'Flying'. He paused for a moment, tapping his chin in thought. 

"Hey, I own this hotel," Levasseur started. "I want to see what It does! Does it really fly?" He asked and insisted that Jpg could do what he has to do to get it working. Jpg made a face at his insistent behavior and breathed out a sigh... Although, he couldn't really believe that this guy owned this hotel and it came to him as a bit of a surprise. Also giving him permission to fly around indoors? Jpg glanced over to his jetpack and hesitated. 

"... Are you sure?" he asked. Levasseur nodded with a smile, obviously excited to see and waiting anticipately for Jpg to show him. Jpg sucked in a breath and held it for a moment before sighing again. "Well... Alright then." He said with a light shrug, stepping towards his jetpack and picking it up, throwing it on and fiddling around with the straps with pursed lips. As he was adjusting the straps to his liking, he noticed Levasseur watching intently in the corner of his eyes and shifted a bit uncomfortably. 

As soon as he strapped in, he nervously shuffled away from Levasseur. "Okay... It's a bit--" He shook his head, cutting himself off. "No, it's really loud." He warned, shooing Levasseur away, telling him he's going to have to stand back a bit. The man nodded and did as he was told, a bit confused, but obviously excited. 

With that, Jpg started up his jetpack; his jetpack being a loud as it usually is and lifted himself off the ground with it. He let himself only hover above the floor a bit, seeing as how they were in a small room and very little flying space. However, this was enough to amaze Levasseur as he watched in awe and soon, Jpg landed and switched off his jetpack; ending the exceptionally loud and blaring engine and quickly unbuckled himself and place it back onto the table nearby. 

"Where did you get that?!" Levasseur asked. "Surely, no inventors had made such machines before!" he pointed out. Jpg breathed out a laugh, knowing that the answer was obvious, but decided to keep it to himself. "Who are you working for?" he curiously asked. 

Jpg shifted uncomfortable "I can't really... Share that with you." Jpg nervously said, which made Levasseur deflate in disappointment. The man sighed, itching the side of his head. Suddenly, he seemed to have remembered something, Levasseur perking up as he did. 

"Oh right--" He said as he turned to pick up the garment bag and held it out to Jpg. "Your suit." Levasseur said with a smile, leaning forwards as he did in a proper sort of manner. Jpg paused for a moment and soon made a quiet 'oh' noise, taking the garment bag and giving Levasseur a nod. The man smile grew and he opened his mouth to speak before he paused at a thought that came to mind and stared at Jpg for a moment, tilting his head in thought. Suddenly, his smile dropped looking almost shocked and extremely on edge. 

Levasseur stood back up straight up and cleared his throat, a nervous smile forming on his face. "Well.... I--I see that you most likely would like to get ready for the day!" he said, overly joyed that was obviously fake and again cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I'll be going now... Terribly sorry if I had been a bother to you, Guy." 

Before Jpg could tell him, it was fine, the man turned on his heels and made his quick exit, closing his hotel door with a soft click, like last time and leaving Jpg alone once again. He stared at the door for a moment, a bit confused at the man's sudden change in his demeanor but decided to shrug it off for now. He placed the garment bag down onto the bed; which was still not made--, and stared down at it for a moment, not really thinking about anything in particular. 

Finally, he decided to open the bag, pilling the zipper down with a quick 'ZZzziip!' and pulled out the outfit within. He stared at it for a long moment, simply observing the outfit for a bit before muttering out an "Ah." The outfit was a dark red pinstriped suit and wasn't really what Jpg expected at all... However, he thought it wasn't that bad at all. Infact, he kind of liked it for the way it looked. He fully took it out of the bag and pushed it aside for now and stood back to admire the suit, genuinely impressed. 

He thought it was really off how someone was able to make a tailored suit in just a night... Well, in about 6 hours or something. So, he felt bad for the person who most likely had to stay up all night to make this suit. He really didn't want the suit at first, but now that it was here, he felt it would be rude not to take it. Jpg sighed and placed the suit onto the desk for now and sat down on the bed, thinking about just going back to sleep. However, he pushed the thought aside and thought that since he was already wide awake and somewhat dressed, he might as well stay up now. 

Jpg glanced over to the suit again and paused as he spotted something that came with the outfit. It was a type of undergarments most would have to wear underneath the suit, Jpg idly thought to himself, seeing that it was a striped light blue undergarment. He made a face of disdain at them and sat up. Jpg did not want to wear them. They were tacky, he thought, but also thought it was better than receiving flowered patterned ones. Still, he wasn't going to wear these. Quickly, he picked it up and turned around, shoving it back into the garment bag and turning back to the suit. He stared at it for a long time, simply observing it and raised an eyebrow at it. Well, might as well try it on since he has this now, he thought. 

About 10 minutes of fumbling around, he looked down at himself and patted his new pants and then soon throwing on the jacket. Looking up at the small mirror that hung above the sink, he saw how he looked and thought that he didn't look all that bad. Infact, he thought that he looked pretty good in the suit. It was also a perfect fit! Again, he thought about how someone made this suit in a span of 6 hours, simply thinking about how unrealistic it was and yet, here it is. It must have been a suit that was already made and they only adjusted it to be a Perfect Fit for him. 

He pushed the thought aside for now as a pang of hunger hit him. Jpg made a face and placed a hand on his stomach, realizing that he hadn't really eaten anything since... Well, 2016. He rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner. Gary was right about all this time stuff being really confusing. 

He decided it was time to leave his room and explore the hotel and see what’s going on around the place... and also find somewhere to eat, that was his first priority. Jpg glanced over to the clock that sat on the side of the bed and stared at it for a moment, his eyes adjusting a bit from the distance between him and the small clock. 9:58 AM. He hummed to himself as he itched the side of his head in thought. He wasn’t entirely sure if there were any places that were open at this time, but he thought that most likely there is. He breathed out a bit of a sigh and adjusted his shades, picking up his jacket and slipping it on, stepping towards his jetpack and buckling himself in as usual. 

After he was done, he picked up his room key and took one last look around the room before turning on his heels and leaving. Locking his room door, he stood in the hallway for a moment in brief confusion, looking left and right. He wasn’t sure which direction the elevator was at and sort of rubbed the back of his neck as he tried remembering the night before. He breathed out a sigh and simply decided to go left, talking down the non-carpeted hallway, listening to his shows softly clicking against the floor boards underneath and hearing the occasional soft murmuring of others staying in the neighboring rooms as he walked past. 

As he approached the end of the hallway, he heard Mr. Levasseur’s voice become much more audible as he approached. Thinking of greeting the man and maybe asking him about where an available place to eat was located and maybe even some other places to check out, since he technically was never here before. All of this to him was a new environment with some vague similarities to the time he came from but it was hard to tell. He idly wondered what happened during the 100 years and where all the buildings had disappeared off too, considering there are no big grand buildings like this on current time Club Penguin. Which was strange for him to think about. 

Right as he was reaching the end of the hall to take a turn and most likely run into Levasseur, he stopped at the mention of his name from Mr. Levasseur and heard another's voice speak up. He stopped to listen, stepping back and putting his back against the wall, curious as to what Levasseur and this other person was talking about that had him included. 

“I don’t know!” Levasseur said, obviously a bit distressed. “I simply do not trust the man... He decides to come out of nowhere and acts... Extremely nice to everyone he meets.” He continued, Jpg hearing a shift of movement. “The man simply... Looks a lot like that guy! You know...” He vaguely said, Jpg hearing someone only hum in reply. “Don’t you think that’s a little weird?” 

Soon, Jpg heard someone stepping off or onto something metal which sounded a bit like a ladder and a women's voice spoke up. “I don’t know, Mr. Levasseur. Maybe he’s just nice, that’s all.” Said the lady, a sound of something squeaky and metal sounding. “You should...I don’t know, maybe get to know the guy?” she said, with another shift of movement sounding. 

“I don’t know.” Levasseur said. “I can’t tell if the guys in a very shallow disguise or if the man’s just a look-a-like of some sort.” He continued, making a low almost disgruntled noise. 

“A Doppelgänger?” 

“Yeah, that!” Levasseur exclaimed, humming to himself shortly afterwards as if he was trying to remember something. “But there is something off about him... And I’m not sure what.” He continued, interrupted by more metal sounds. 

“I haven’t met this ‘guy’ at all, Mr. Levasseur... and I didn’t come into work last night, because I didn’t need too.” The lady pointed out. “So, I wouldn’t exactly know if this man you’ve been talking about looks like the mysterious ‘Guy’ you mentioned.” She finished; the sound of the metal object being heard again. She then added that until he met the man, they could talk about this matter, telling Mr. Levasseur to go now and that she had a job to do. 

Levasseur sighed. “Alright, but don’t put too much trust into him.” He said, before the sound of one of the two walking and closing a nearby door. Jpg assumed it was most likely Levasseur. 

Jpg stood there for a moment and sighed to himself. Well, so much for that, he thought. His plan on simply talking to Levasseur for a bit of help sort of caved in on itself and now Jpg felt to awkward to approach the man now, wondering what he and the lady was talking about with a ‘doppelgänger’. He rolled his eyes and simply decided to take the turn to see if the elevator was even there and as soon as he did, he ran into the person whom was speaking to Mr. Levasseur and with a loud bang of many objects falling to the floor and breaking, the two yelping in surprise, falling over as they did. 

“Hey, watch where you’re going you fool!” the lady cried out, obviously upset. 

Jpg shook head, his shades become a bit displaced as he did and placed his hand onto his forehead. “Ah, shoot—I'm really sorry.” He said, standing back up and briefly dusting himself off and lending out a hand to help up whoever he had bumped into. Looking down, was a lady who looked very disgruntled and looked to be around Holintop’s age... He couldn’t be sure. She wore a pale pinkish-brown turtleneck underneath blue jean overalls, which had its brown leather pockets filled with a few tools inside. Her hair was in a ponytail and was exceptionally fluffy. It was a sort of Orange color with darker bits at the ends, making Jpg think about how unique her hair looked. 

The lady sighed and raised a grey long gloved hand that reached to her elbow and accepted Jpg’s help, firmly grabbing onto his hand and pulling herself up with only using Jpg to help herself up. Which didn’t bother Jpg all that much. “Thanks.” She muttered, not really looking at Jpg and instead, looked at the mess that appeared and sighed heavily, obviously not very pleased with this outcome at all. 

Jpg looked down to the floor and saw the mess of tools and glass that surrounded the two and cleared his throat, kind of embarrassed for running into someone and creating a mess in the process. “Um...” He quietly muttered, keeping his voice low. “Would you like some help?” he asked. 

The lady took a moment to reply, but sighed. “... That would be nice.” She replied, kneeling down and picking up the tools that had fallen out of a toolbox she previously held before running into Jpg, and placing them back inside. Jpg also kneeled down and began picking up took and began sweeping what looked like smashed lightbulbs off to the side with his bare hands, which was admittingly not the greatest idea. As they continued picking up everything in a short silence, the lady finally looked over to Jpg and stopped, giving him a head tilt and placing her hands onto her lap as she looked like as if she was trying to remember something. 

Jpg simply continued to pick up some of the tools but saw her looking at him in the corner of his eye. He dropped in a screwdriver into the back and looked up at the lady, who was by now, squinting at him, looking curious. “Say... You do look a lot like that guy...” She vaguely said. But since Jpg had been listening, he kind of knew why she said that. Jpg flickered his eyes away from the lady briefly and breathed out a bit of a nervous laugh. 

“Well, that’s awfully vague.” He pointed out, picking up a hammer and placing it into the bag and it took a moment for the lady to really realize what she had said really was vague as she continued to sort of stare at him. Soon, she perked up at what he said and paused for a second. 

“Oh. Yeah, that is vague.” She said, picking up the last tool and dropping it into the bag, zipping it up and standing back up from the floor, Jpg following along. “So, is your name ‘Jpg’ or something similar?” she asked. Jpg nodded, not really asking her why she knew his name and assumed that Mr. Levasseur most likely had told her. The lady hummed and slowly nodded, soon giving him a bit of a crooked smile and putting out the gloved hand out for a hand shake. “Nice to meet you, Jpg! My name is Calibri.” She greeted with great enthusiasm. 

Jpg raised his eyebrows in a bit of surprise. He heard that name from the computer back at work. It’s the name of a font that are usually built into computers. He only knew this because of the many documents he had to type up for work and sometimes when he got bored, he would scroll through the list of many fonts that were available, and usually ‘Calibri’ was the font that most writing programs would use by default. He chuckled at the thought and Calibri didn’t seem to notice him chuckling to himself. 

Calibri was looking down to the floor where some broken bits of the lightbulbs still laid. Lightly tapping them with her boot, she sucked in a breath and held it for a moment, obviously a bit exasperated. She soon paused and breathed out, looking up at Jpg with a bit of a confused look. “What are you doing here on this side of the floor, anyways?” she asked. 

Jpg shifted in place and looked behind her to see if there was an elevator there, but sadly there wasn’t and now he felt awkward and nervous for being on the wrong side of the floor, thinking he should have taken the other way than this way. He cleared his throat. “I was looking for the elevator.” He replied in a bit of an awkward manner. 

There was a short silence as Calibri crossed her arms. Soon, she pointed down the hallway with her one arm still crossed. “Elevator’s that way. You’re on the completely wrong side, mister.” Calibri said. Jpg followed her finger and breathed out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked down to his feet in a bit of embarrassment and nodded. 

“Right... I’m sorry.” He muttered, turning on his heels to go and find the elevator on the other side of the hallway, awkwardly shoving his hands into his pockets. As he was about to scurry off, he heard an assortment of movement behind him and heard Calibri quickly catch up to him, her heavy boots banging against the wood floors. 

“I’ll walk with you!” she called out. “I’m going downstairs, anyways and I’m only assuming that you’re also going down as well.” She continued, adjusting her hold on her tool bag. Jpg paused and let her catch up and the two simply continued walking, Jpg feeling too awkward to really say anything. However, it was her who started conversation, he now he didn’t really need to worry too much about it. “So, what do you do?” Calibri asked, glancing over to Jpg’s direction. 

Jpg furrowed his eyebrows a bit. “What do you mean?” he asked, the two finally coming up to the elevator that was mentioned earlier. Jpg couldn’t help but feel a bit silly for not remembering where the elevator was located, but he was never in this hotel, so it was to be expected. Calibri shrugged and pressed the button to the elevator, both of them looking up at the needle slowly begin to move to the number floor they were on. 

“I don’t know... I mean... What is your way of living?” She asked. 

Jpg adjusted his shades and paused for a moment, attempting to find a way to explain it. “Uh... that’s a bit difficult to explain.” He pointed out, wondering how he would describe his own life. He never really spoke about it at all to anyone and the way Calibri said that made it even more so difficult to really explain without coming off as strange. Considering he came from a different time apparently. “Well, I live.” he said in a joking manner, the elevator finally making it up to their floor. The doors slid open and the two stepped in, Calibri stepping over the cap while Jpg nearly forgotten it was there. He stumbled into the elevator but was able to catch himself and regain his balance. 

“Are you going to the lobby?” Calibri asked. Jpg nodded and was nearly about to press the button but Calibri got there first and so, Jpg awkwardly shifted away. “So, do you have a job?” Calibri asked, looking up at the needle again, which was beginning to slowly turn back to the lobby. Jpg itched the side of his head and simply nodded, not really saying much about his job, considering he’s an agent and he’s not entirely sure it would be safe to talk about it at all in this time as well. “Oh, well that explains a lot.” Calibri said, the elevator creating a bell noise with each floor they passed. “Wherever you work, must pay very well.” She pointed out. 

Jpg muttered out a confused ‘thanks’, unsure if that was a compliment or not. Then again, even if it was, he wasn’t entirely sure if he should be uncomfortable or not. He shrugged off the feeling and glanced back up at the needle, which by now was on the 2nd floor. As soon as the elevator finally reached the lobby, the elevator opened its door with a soft ‘Ding’ as its doors slid open, the two stepped out, Jpg this time, stepped over the large gap. Soon Jpg came to a stop just outside the elevator doors and looked over to Calibri. “Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask something.” he brought up, prompting Calibri to look over to him. 

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips and looking curious. 

Jpg paused for a moment and soon asked if there were any places nearby that you could eat at, a restaurant, basically. Quickly, Calibri nodded, happy to tell Jpg about what she knew. She soon told him about a restaurant that was down the street from the hotel, she admitted she couldn’t remember what it was called from the top of her head, but she knew it was there and was fairly easy to spot. She then told him that the food was pretty decent as she soon began telling him the directions, telling him that once he walks out of the hotel, he would simply have to take a right down the side walk and he will see a sigh with a wooden fork on it and said if he sees a place where they shine shoes, that means he went way too far. Jpg nodded at her instructions and thanked her. 

“Well, now I’m going to go. I need to drop off my stuff here and get a broom.” and with that, Calibri raised her hand at him as a brief wave and turned on her heels and rushed away. Jpg sort of stared off where she rushed off too and soon turned around to look around the lobby. 

The Hotel Lobby wasn’t very different from last night, however this time, it was obviously much brighter and lively. There were peopling going left and right, holding their luggage and talking all at once. It was pretty much how the hotel was like in 2016 on busy days. Jpg itched the side of his head as he glanced around the room, a bit nervous about how many people were here. He was never a fan of big crowds. 

As he glanced around for nothing in particular, he walked away from the hotel and rested against the wall, thinking to himself about what on earth he’s going to do about this problem he was in. He still didn’t know if this whole time-problem was really true and that everyone was still fooling him. Then again, this was very believable and he wasn’t entirely sure if he can believe it or not. Soon, as he glanced around in thought, he spotted Holintop in a group of people. He seemed to be speaking to someone, but obviously Jpg didn’t know who they were. The person was obscured by many other people and one of the potted plants that was around the hotel and all he could really see was their arm. 

Jpg sort of squinted and glanced away again, wondering what he was going to do today. If he were at home, he would have been feeding his pet fish, Flash and doing his daily errands and then going off to work. If he was remembering correctly, him, Dot, Gary, and Rookie had been assigned to a mysterious case of a few disappearances. It had all happened ever since that fog mysteriously appeared all over the island and none of them could really find out why or how. Which prompted Gary to go and look into it. Suddenly, he stopped in his thoughts for a brief moment and begun thinking about the case all over again and soon it suddenly clicked. 

Oh my god. Was he now part of the disappearances? Was that fog really what caused all those Islanders to disappear, leaving little to no trace to where they have gone? Jpg stared down at the floor as he thought about this, coming to the realization that he really is in 1916 and that this really isn’t some sort of test and that he really did get tangled up in all of this... Whatever it really was. But what if it was and he was simply looking too far into it? No way that simple fog would be related to something so bogus... Then again, Gary did find a lot of... Scientific things to it just the other day. Was what he wanted to show him the other night related to the fog? Jpg squinted at the thought and tapped his foot as he tried figuring things out. 

Soon, he was suddenly pulled out of thought from someone tapping his shoulder, making him turn to see who it was. There he saw Dimeena standing there, looking rather happy to see him. “Goodmorning!” she greeted, bowing her head slightly. Jpg stared for a second and muttered a Goodmorning back to her and remembered how he sort of left without saying last night when Levasseur had pulled him away. Itched the side of his head and sort of laughed, apologizing for last night. 

Dimeena shook her head. “Oh, no! It’s completely fine. I understand that you became busy and distracted.” She pointed out and Jpg sighed in relief, glad to know he didn’t accidentally upset someone. Soon, she changed the subject and asked what Jpg was doing that day, which reminded Jpg that he was going to that diner Calibri told him about earlier. 

He told her about it and immediately, she perked up and recalled what the name of the Diner was. She said it was called the ‘Salt and Pepper Diner’ which made Jpg raise an eyebrow. He had heard that name a lot amongst the Islanders before and it seemed to have been a bit of a joke to them and honestly, he never really understood the joke at all... Never really received the context, but he also never bothered to really read into the context anyways. 

Jpg nodded at her and Dimeena paused and gave him a bit of a head tilt. “Are you new here in town?” she asked pretty bluntly. Jpg hesitated and itched the side of his head. Technically he is, right? So, in reply he simply shrugged at her and nodded. 

“Yeah, I guess I am.” He replied. 

Dimeena breathed out a laugh and again tilted her head at him. “I guess?” she echoed, laughing as she did. “Alright then, Guy... Are you heading over to the diner soon?” she asked. Jpg only nodded and Dimeena perked up at the reply, asking if she could tag along. Jpg shrugged and didn’t see why not so agreed to let her come along. He thought that if he’s going to get to know someone, he might as well do just that since she most likely can tell him about the locals and all that sort of stuff that he doesn’t really know about. “Oh, great!” she said with a smile. “Can you wait for me here? I need to go and grab my handbag from my room.” She asked. Jpg just nodded and Dimeena’s smile grew and quickly she said she will be right back and turned on her heels and rushed off. 

Jpg watched her run off down a hallway and assumed she must have had a room down stairs instead and he sighed, leaning against the wall to be out of the way of everyone and waited. He stared at the ceiling and thought about what he realized earlier, still a bit baffled and bewildered. Would they even be able to find him? What about all those other islanders that were reported missing? How on earth will they find them if they were thrown into a random point in time? That’s what happened to him... So, he can only assume that’s what happened to the other islanders. 

Suddenly, he was pulled out of thought by a series of objects falling over, glass smashing, and a lady screaming. Which, admittingly, made Jpg jump from the sudden loud sounds. He quickly looked up to where the sounds came from and saw a man and a lady looking down at Holintop, who was lifting himself from the floor. Surrounding him was various luggage's, the contents scattered all over the floor and creating a mess. The previously potted Geraniums that bloomed in one of the pots laid on the floor, smashed and looking at Holintop, he looked absolutely mortified. 

The man shouted at Holintop, obviously upset about what happened and that; assumedly their stuff has been scattered. However, that was not the case. “Did you not see us standing there?!” the man shouted. “Are you blind? Now look at what you did!” the man continued, obviously overly upset about something and Jpg couldn’t tell what happened, because he didn’t see. So, he listened to figure out. 

Holintop stood up from the ground and dusted himself off from the dirt and broken pieces of the pot, biting his lip and looking as guilty as ever. “Well?” The man said, placing his hands onto his hips. “What do you have to say for yourself?” he asked, giving Holintop a look. 

There was a short silence as Holintop meekly stood there. “I-I’m... I’m sorry I didn’t see you there, I was holding the bags and--” He stuttered on his words, gesturing towards the stuff on the ground. “You were there and—I didn’t see you, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean too. I promise I won’t do it again.” He finished, looking down at the ground, most likely staring at the mess. Jpg quickly glanced around the room and saw a few people staring, obviously unsure what to do or just watching what’s going on. 

However, both the man and the woman scoffed at his apology. “You’re so clumsy and useless,” the woman hissed. “It’s a wonder how you ever got your hob here when you’re not even cleaning up the mess you made.” She continued, making Jpg raise his eyebrows. That was really harsh, he thought now deciding to do something and break this all up and began his stride towards them, earning a harsh glare from the woman. “What do you want?” the lady spat. 

Jpg took a moment to reply, honestly a bit nervous as he noticed that some people looked a bit shocked at the sight of him and didn’t really understand why. The man turned around from Holintop to see who the lady was speaking too. However, his expression dropped at the sight of Jpg, looking a bit pale. “Look lady, what you said was unnecessary.” Jpg stated. “He said he didn’t mean to do what he did and apologized for it.” he continued, going straight into his agent mind set... Well, at least a bit. “There was no need for you to go out on him like and I suggest you should apologize for what you said to this employee.” He finished, having a feeling that most likely they will lash back at him. 

The woman rolled her eyes at him and elbowed the man in the rib, causing the man to make a bit of a surprised noise. “Or what?” she scoffed, giving Jpg a bit of an unimpressed look. Honestly, Jpg wasn’t entirely sure what to do. He didn’t have any sort of authority in this... Time period. So, he only shrugged in response, trying to keep his cool and thinking that he should simply report them to someone at least. 

Soon, the nervous man leaned over to the lady and whispered something to her, which confused Jpg but still continued to keep his cool. Now, suddenly the woman looked shocked and covered her mouth, looking back over to Jpg. “Oh, my goodness...” She said, looking over to Holintop who was still looking down to his feet and then back to Jpg. “I am so sorry; I didn’t know who you were—” She stuttered as the man lightly pushed the woman behind him, turning towards Holintop. 

“Look, I’m sorry for what we said, sir... We’ll be going now.” The man said, nodding at Jpg and the two quickly walked away, obviously a bit shaken. Jpg watched them rush away and sighed, relieved that he was able to deal with what happened. Even though he really didn’t know what was scaring them so much about him. He shook his head and pushed away the thought, just happy that the two people were gone and looked over to Holintop, hearing the people in the lobby go back to what they were doing. 

“Hey, do you need help?” he quietly asked. There was a short pause as Holintop hesitated, staring at Jpg for a short moment as he soon seemed to look past him and simply gave Jpg a half smile. 

“That would be really nice.” Holintop admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in a bit of an awkward manner. Jpg nodded and both of them kneeled down to the ground and started picking up everything off the floor, shoving the clothes back into the bags and sweeping the dirt and broken cotta pot pieces with their hands, Jpg not really caring about getting his hands dirty. 

As Jpg and Holintop swept up the broken pieces and dirt, also the scattered bouquet of the tiny yellow chrysanthemums, Holintop suddenly sat up, seeming to have heard something that Jpg couldn’t hear. He sat up as well and gave Holintop a bit of a confused look but before he could ask what was up, he heard Calibri and someone else calling out for Holintop down a hallway, making him turn towards their voices. Almost immediately, he saw Calibri stumble into view, stopping at the sight of Jpg. The two made eye contact for a short moment before she shook her head and run up to Holintop, dropping to her knees and skidding across the floor towards the both of them. 

She immediately began doting on Holintop, asking if he was okay and if anyone hurt him or if he hurt himself in anyway. Holintop only breathed out a laugh and nodded, assuring her that he was okay just saying that a few guests got mad at him for bumping into them and right as Calibri was about to ask something else, he shook his head, interrupting her and saying that they didn’t hurt him at all. 

“This guy helped me get rid of them and leave me alone.” 

Calibri looked up at Jpg and paused for a moment, soon giving him a smile. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted once again, but this time the sound of someone's shoes skidding across the floor was heard instead, causing the three to turn towards where the sound came from, which was down the hall where Calibri previously came from. 

What Jpg saw was a guy with bright orange hair that had an obnoxious S-shaped cowlick, sliding across the floor and slipping onto his side, yelping as he fell over. He looked to be the bellhop of the hotel, judging from the bum looking hat that sat on top his head and seeing that he had about the same colors Holintop had, red and purple. He muttered something in an obvious annoyance and scrambled onto his knees and clumsily crawled towards them. 

Jpg stared in a bit of shock as he immediately recognized this man's freckly face. “Skip!” Calibri said, pushing him away as he nearly stepped on her foot. “What where you’re stepping!” she cried out, shifting out of his way. 

Oh my god, it is him, Jpg thought. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Skip said, turning towards Holintop, cupping his face and immediately asking him if he was okay and what not, also asking him what happened. Holintop chuckled and pulled his face away and pushing Skips hands away as well and nodded, assuring him that he was completely okay, laughing it off and saying that it was simply a couple of guests that got upset at him, which made Skip raise an eyebrow and ask him why. Holintop only breathed out a nervous laugh and somewhat gestured around the room, adding that he bumped into them, which caused this mess. Skip glanced around and made a quiet ‘oh’ sound as he seemed to realize what happened. Soon, he noticed Jpg sitting there and paused at the sight of him, pointing at him and looking towards Calibri. “Um... who’s this?” he asked with a bit of a raised eyebrow. 

Calibri perked up. “Oh! This is Jpg!” She said, gesturing towards him. “He’s new here and helped Holintop with the guests.” She finished, Jpg pausing for a moment before giving Skip a bit of an awkward half smile and a quick wave. Skip stared at him for a moment and then smiled back at him, nodding his head as a greeting, saying whom he was. Of course, Jpg already knew who he was but pretended not to know for obvious reasons... He also noticed that Skip didn’t have those heavy bags under his eyes and actually gave him a genuine smile for once. Which was strange for Jpg. Skip never liked him. 

Skip looked back to Holintop, helping him up from the floor and dusting him off from the dirt as well as Jpg and Calibri followed. “I’ll go get the broom. “Calibri said, turning on her heels and walking off. “Again.” she said under her breath, chuckling shortly afterwards, walking towards the direction her and Skip stumbled out from. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Skip quietly asked on last time, only for Holintop to smile and nod at him, quietly reassuring him once again as Skip dusted him off from whatever remaining dirt there was. Skip turned around and looked at Jpg, staring for a moment as if he looked to be in thought, making Jpg shift uncomfortably. “Hey, have we met before?” Skip asked, pointing and squinting at him as he did. The question kind of took Jpg off guard and gave Skip a look. 

“What?” 

“Have we met before.” Skip repeated. 

“Oh. Um... No, I don’t think so.” Jpg lied. It would be strange and a bit unsettling if he straight up told this past Skip that yeah, they totally met before, freaking out Skip and Holintop. “Why?” he asked, genuinely curious as to why Skip asked that question. There was a short pause from Skip before tilted his head and placed a finger on his chin. 

“Hm... I dunno, you just seem very familiar.” He said, squinting at Jpg for a moment before just shrugging it off. “Oh well, I guess we’ll never know.” He continued, laughing at himself. Jpg raised an eyebrow at him, thinking how weird that is. If this really is 1916, which he was pretty sure by now, then this would have been the first time he had met Skip and he never time traveled before, besides that one time, but it was into the future instead and that was in 2014 if he was remembering correctly. 

Suddenly, Skip jumped, looking towards a nearby clock that hung above the front desk. “Oh right. We should get going now!” Skip said with a bit of urgency. “It was nice to meet you, ‘Jpg’!” he said, as if he wasn’t sure if he should be calling Jpg, ‘Jpg’. Holintop and Skip waved at him as they rushed away to leave the room. “Thank you for helping!” Skip called out, disappearing around the corner. 

Jpg nodded once at them as he watched them leave the room and once they were gone, Jpg sighed and walked back to the wall, thinking that maybe he should go and wash his hands before he leaves to go and eat something, looking down at his dirt covered hands. He stared at them for a moment before quickly deciding to do just that, leaving to the public bathroom and quickly washing his hands and what not, noting that he thought that the bathroom was particularly fancy for its time. He quickly left out of the bathroom and returned to the wall, still waiting for Dimeena to show and it took her about 10 more minutes before she finally showed up. 

She rushed out from where she disappeared from and quickly glanced around before spotting him and sighed in a relief. “Oh, goodness... I honestly thought you left!” She said, placing a hand on her chest. “I’m so sorry for taking so long!” she continued, giving him a bit of a sheepish look. Honestly, Jpg really was about to leave getting a bit tired of waiting for her but only nodded at her, telling her it was fine, even though he really didn’t think so. 

“Thank you for waiting for me...” She said as she adjusted her dress slightly and looking at him with a smile. “Shall we take our leave?” she asked. Jpg nodded and the two took their leave, Dimeena starting up normal conversation and basically telling him about the area, happy to answer any sort of questions that Jpg had. In all honesty, Jpg thought she reminded him of a grandma.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4:20 pm aayyy, April 30th, 2016

Rookie and Skip entered the HQ to find groups of agents here and there doing their own things, like doing The Spy Drills, using the System Defender Tutorial Stage, and also completing the PSA simulated missions, or they’re simply speaking amongst each other. You know, the usual. It didn’t seem there was anything important going on, besides the few agents looking up the files of the recent missing islanders that all seemed to appear since this strange fog appeared. 

“Oh, whoops. Wrong floor...” Rookie quietly said to himself, turning around and going back into the elevator. Skip sighed and turned around with him, Rookie pressing the right button this time and going down further into the EPF, into the lower levels where Gary and Dot where at currently. They were off to the room where all the Monitors were at, the ones that observed the locations all over the island... Or at least that’s where Rookie thought that was where Dot and Gary were at. 

As they walked down the hallway to the aforementioned room, Rookie occasionally waved and greeted some passing agents, Skip being promptly ignored or some agents shying away from him, which brought a bit of a smirk to his face, finding it a bit amusing that he was still somewhat feared amongst some agents here and there. However, he kept that to himself. 

Soon, they finally made their way to the room where Dot and Gary were located and there, they saw the two standing in front of some monitors, fast-forwarding and rewinding through recorded footage from last night, occasionally bickering to each other on where to rewind, stop, or play the footage at certain times. “We’re here!” Rookie called out, making Dot turn around. 

She smiled at the two as Gary continued going through the footage. “What took you two so long?” she asked with a bit of an eyebrow raise, making them stop for a moment. 

“We briefly got lost on the way here.” Skip replied with his hands behind his back. Dot stared at the two for a moment and blinked, then breathing out a laugh at them, waving her hand at them beckoning them to come closer and help them. Rookie nodded and walked over to look over to see what was happening, Skip following just behind. 

Gary looked up at Rookie for a brief moment and back down at the monitors. “You said you last seen him in Town Central, correct?” Gary asked. Rookie nodded in reply, humming as he did. Gary nodded once and pressed a couple of buttons on his keyboard and eventually the cameras switched to a dark and foggy view of Town Central. “What time?” he asked again, glancing up at Rookie. 

Rookie paused to think for a moment and shrugged. “Around the time you texted him.” He replied, a little unsure of what the time was last night when Jpg walked away from him. Gary sighed to himself and pulled out his phone to see what time he texted Jpg and saw the time, quickly inputting it in, fast-forwarding the video to said time, which was around 10:35. The timestamp in the corner that indicated the time sped up and finally stopped around 10:30, Dot stopping Gary and pointing at another screen that showed the Skip village. 

“Look, there they are!” she pointed out. There they found Rookie and Jpg slowly walking towards the docks, speaking to each other. There was no audio, but Rookie can imagine what they were talking about at the time. He idly wandered to himself why they would need his help now, since they seemed to be perfectly fine without him, but gladly decided to stay by their side for now. 

Gary looked down at his keyboard and adjusted his glasses, glancing back up at the screens. “Alright, so now we simply following wherever Jpg wanders off too.” Gary pointed out. They watched the two take the long way to Town Central, which was towards the Beach. As they spoke for a bit, almost exactly at 10:34, Jpg stopped and looked down at himself, digging into his pockets and soon pulling out his phone. 

Suddenly, there was a pause in the video, which confused the small group. Gary glanced over to the timestamp to see if the video had paused and raised his eyebrows, very surprised. Immediately, he noticed the timestamp going absolutely crazy in the corner, going from 11:00, 5:00, 1:30, 7:50, and 8:40, then going back and forwards, displaying a random set of numbers and then going right back to 10:34. 

That was only seen for about a few seconds before the video played back like normal. Gary blinked at the screen, not really sure what to make of it and wondered if the other three saw what he saw. He turned and saw that they must have noticed that as well, judging from the looks on their faces... Gary made a face at them and Dot and Skip only shrugged in return, all turning back to the screen. Jpg and Rookie spoke to each other for a bit once more and continued walking again, briefly stopping at the docks, so Rookie can poke a fluffy fish that sat on a plate and try to balance on a board that sat there for the ‘Wilderness Expedition’ Party as Jpg only waited for Rookie to finish. 

Finally, the screen that displayed Town Central showed Rookie and Jpg walking into view. They stopped in front the Coffee Shop and spoke for a bit, but this time, not for too long. Jpg reached into his pocket and game Rookie a small flashlight, Rookie taking it and briefly flashing it in Jpg’s face. There was another short pause as the two spoke to each other for a short moment before finally saying their goodbyes, Rookie giving Jpg a big wave, while Jpg only lifting his head as a wave goodbye. 

As soon as Rookie was out of view, Jpg stood there for a moment and looked as if he sighed to himself, taking out his phone and staring down at it, not really doing much for a moment before placing it back into his pocket, looking particularly annoyed. He turned around and began walking towards the docks once again, the four losing Jpg for a moment in the fog. It had gotten much thicker than it was about a minute ago, which wasn’t entirely strange. 

Gary continued to glance towards the timestamp every few seconds, making sure that he would catch that same thing that happened earlier once again. The four tried looking for Jpg throughout the fog in the video feed they had, but couldn’t find him because of said fog. Gary made a quiet disgruntled noise as he glanced around at the other monitors in an attempt to find Jpg. Dot pointed at the screen suddenly, gaining the attention from Gary and the others. 

There they saw a silhouette of Jpg wandering around just outside the view of Town Central and the docks camera views, just near the bushes. He honestly looked lost. “There he is!” Gary pointed out. “Let’s see where he wanders off too...” he continued, watching the video feed. 

“You know... Jpg could just be lost in the wilderness right now.” Dot added. Gary nodded, but added a short shrug in between. Skip leaned forward between Dot and Gary. 

“If Jetpack Guy was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t he back by now?” he asked. They paused for a moment and quickly, Rookie added that would be true. Jpg does know the wilderness almost by the back of his hand, from all that rugged camping he did in the past. Once again, Gary nodded, tapping his chin in thought as he did. 

“Hmm... You’re right. Maybe we should--” 

Right as the timestamp his 10:52 PM, there was a sudden bright flash of light, causing all the cameras to flicker in and out, the timestamp once again, switching to random interval of times. Gary, Dot, Rookie, and Skip jumped at the flashing and covered their eyes in an attempt to not blind themselves, Gary yelping in surprise as it happened. As fast as it appeared, the flashing was gone. Gary was the first to recover, shaking his head and immediately looked back up at the screens. There he saw that the fog had become less dense than it was before and Jpg was nowhere in sight. 

“W... What?” Dot said, looking up at the screens, everything seemingly going back to normal. “What happened? Where did he go?” she asked, looking towards Gary, obviously hoping for an answer. However, it was obvious Gary did not have one, him admitting he had no idea what happened, shrugging as he spoke. 

He breathed out a bit of a laugh as he stared at the screens, trying to figure out what happened. “It would probably explain why one of my inventions went completely haywire and exploded last night.” he pointed out in a bit of a nonchalant manner. Rookie thought that would explain the funny smell in the lab earlier. 

“Is that what you wanted to show Jpg last night?” Rookie asked, scratching his head. 

Gary looked up at him, humming at him as if he didn’t catch what he said and made a small “oh” before shaking his head. “No, not really.” He replied, pressing a few buttons to rewind back to before the moment the flashing happened. “But, if he was going to stick around for a little longer, I just thought that I might as well show him that invention anyway.” Gary finished, shrugging a little as he did. There was a long pause as Gary continued doing that, Dot telling him what the timestamp it was before it happened. 

Rookie stared at the screen for a long moment, watching the two do whatever before turning to Skip and speaking in a bit of a hushed tone so that only Skip could hear, asking him what happened. However, Skip only shook his head and shrugged, coping Rookies tone of voice. “Like what he said, I don’t know... But that is really weird.” Skip pointed out. “Never seen anything like that before in my life.” 

Once again, Gary tapped at the keyboard, also clicking things here and there and soon a new window popped up. The three watched Gary do whatever he was doing and after a short moment, the printer nearby started up, printing out 4 copies of both perspectives in Town Central and The Dock, in the frame as the flash ignited. Gary handed the three each print out and keeping on for himself as Skip looked down at his copy and stared at it for a bit as the other spoke. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Dot asked as she folded the paper, shoving it into her pocket. 

“I’m guessing we should start investigating the area Jpg disappeared in and see if we can find any sort of clues as to where he went.” Gary replied. Dot nodded and said that she will take Rookie and go out and investigate the area, making Rookie glance over and smile, placing his own poorly folded paper into his pocket as well. 

“Hey, who’s that?” Skip suddenly asked, making the three pause and look over to him. Dot and Gary both asked him what it was and Skip pointed at his paper. “This.” he said. He pointed at a relatively obscured person in the shrubs, who held a camera. They looked a bit panicked in the shot and was almost off frame, making it somewhat hard to figure out who it was. However, their hair was short and scruffy and they wore an orange and white stripped sweater, but it was hard to tell what exactly their hair color was because of how blurry the shot was. 

“Oh great!” Gary exclaimed. “Now we have a witness.” He continued, pulling out his sheet and trying to get a closer look. “We just need to figure out who it is and where they could be.” He said placing down his sheet and turning back towards the many computer screens. Once again, he opened up the frame and zoomed into the figure in the shrubs. As he continued to zoom in, Rookie suddenly perked up and pointed at the screen. 

“Hey, I know who that is!” he blurted out. “It’s that conspiracy theorist that’s always in the attic of the Ski Lodge!” He pointed out, smiling as he did. “You know--” 

“Ismit.” Gary, Dot, and Rookie added all at the same time, making them pause a moment and look at each other, Rookie smiling as he did. Gary let out a deep and sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Of course, it had to be her.” he pointed out. 

Skip looked at the three, a bit confused as he slowly lowered the page. “What’s wrong with her...?” he asked, pointing out their tone of voice. 

Gary jumped and laughed nervously. “N-No! Nothing’s wrong with her, I didn’t mean to make it seem like there was.” He breathed out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, giving Skip a bit of a nervous smile. “She’s just a little bit...” 

“Overbearing.” Dot added. 

“Yeah, something like that...” Gary replied. There was a long awkward pause in the room, Skip expecting them to continue talking, but nothing really came up. However, Rookie suddenly decided to break the silence. 

“I can go talk to her!” he suggested. “And Skip can come with me!” he continued, placing a hand onto Skips shoulder, causing Skip to only glance over to him. Dot and Gary seemed to ponder on the idea for a moment before looking over to each other and shrugging, making a face as they did and soon simply nodded in agreement. 

“I don’t see why not.” Dot said, scratching the side of her head. “Just... Don’t go off subject.” She pointed out. “Just get what you need and come over to the ‘Wilderness’ when you’re both done.” She ordered, Rookie nodding eagerly and turned around and started to walk out of the room. 

“Come on, let’s go, Skip!” Rookie called out. Skip jumped and quickly followed Rookie out of the room. 

Gary sighed and leaned back in his chair a bit in thought, earning the attention from Dot, who was also getting ready to go. She asked what’s up and Gary looked up at her and itched the side of his head. “I’m going to bring out some of my equipment... I have a sneaking suspicion that all this fog has something to do with all of these disappearances that had happened lately.” He pointed out. Dot thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement. 

“Alright. Call me if you need anything.” She said, taking out her phone and teleporting away towards the docks and do what she was told.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 12:45 PM, April, 30th 1916.

As Jpg and Dimeena returned from the diner, Dimeena turned towards Jpg and smiled. “Thank you for everything.” She said with a head bow. “You’re a very nice young man.” She said with a smile, which twitched a bit as she breathed out a laugh. “You really didn’t have to pay for me...” She said, although thankful that he did. Jpg thought it wasn’t really a problem. Everything there was pretty much the lowest price he has ever seen for food and if he really wanted too, he could have been able to pay for everyone’s food in that diner. However, he thought against because he thought that if he’s going to be here in this... Time period... He thought of conserving his money and be careful with it. 

“Oh.” Was all he could think of to say, but she was right, he thought and quietly muttered an apology. However, Dimeena only shook her head and told him it was fine, telling him her thanks. The two stood quietly on the sidewalk, Jpg not really much for conversation and soon, Dimeena swept her hair out of her face. 

“Well, I should get going.” She said with a smile. “My wife is expecting to see me at 1:30.” She pointed out, making Jpg smile. “I will tell her all about you, thank you again!” she said with a head bow, before turning around and walking away, leaving Jpg. He waved goodbye to her as she walked away and paused for a moment as he stood there, thinking that he should go back to the hotel, since he didn’t really have much to do at this time wondered if wandering around would cause something to happen in the future. He did learn a few things from Dimeena, so there’s that. Like about the hotel, the street they were on and some random folks he hadn’t heard of before. Did you know the hotel is over 20 years old? He sure didn’t. 

He turned around and started walking down the side walk, back to the hotel, viewing the buildings he passed, glanced at some passing by islanders, and watched the few vehicles that drove by. He looked up at the sky and squinted at the bright blue sky, realizing that although there was snow on the ground, the air was much warmer than in 2016. Which made him raise an eyebrow, thinking how strange that was and made him think that definitely he wasn’t in his time anymore... Although, that fact had been confirmed a while ago. 

As he continued walking and being lost in his own thoughts, he heard someone call his name and wasn’t really sure if that was directed towards him, which confused him. However, he stopped and looked around, hearing the same voice call out to him once more. He turned around and saw a man in a spotted pinstriped blue suit, his pants pulled pretty far up. The guys hair was black and his skin was tanned and looked like the guy had Vitiligo. He held his hat, which was about the same color as his suit as he tried catching up. “Hey, Guy, wait up!” he cried out. 

Jpg felt uncomfortable, unsure if the man was talking to him or not and pointed to himself and mouthed “Me?” in a confused manner. Finally, the man caught up to Jpg and placed a hand onto his shoulder, leaning forward in a bit of an exaggerated way, resting his other hand on his knee as he breathed heavily. 

“Man... Guy, you walk so fast for someone who has short legs!” the man exclaimed, still trying to catch his breath. Jpg frowned at what the man said, feeling a little offended. The man glanced up at him and seemed to notice that and stood straight up, putting his hands up and out in a protective manner as he breathed out a nervous laugh. “N-Not that I think you’re short or anything!” 

Jpg looked up at this guy, who was taller than he was and noted the man’s thick Boston or Jersey accent. He wasn’t entirely sure what kind of accent it was, but he was sure it was one of those. The man furrowed his eyebrows and slightly tilted his head, still keeping his eye on Jpg. “Is there something wrong? You’re not acting like yourself.” he asked, leaning to look behind Jpg. “And what’s that on your back?” he asked, looking at Jpg’s Jetpack. 

Jpg opened his mouth to reply but was abruptly cut off by the man covering his own mouth in shock. “You didn’t get tangled up with another gang, did ya?!” he cried out. Taken back by this, Jpg gave the man a bit of a bewildered look and shook his head. 

“What--? No!” he shouted. 

The man looked relieved, although, Jpg had no idea what gang this man was even speaking of and wasn’t really sure what to make of what he said. The man nodded. “Alright, cool...” he said before pausing and cocking his head at him. “Oh, hey, by the way, who was that you were with?” he asked. Jpg raised an eyebrow at him and sort of shrugged at him. 

“She’s an acquaintance, I met her at the hotel.” he pointed out. 

The man nodded and tucked his hands into his pocket. “Oh, neato.” he said, looking as if he had something else to say, but before he could say anything, Jpg squinted at the man. 

“Do I know you...?” Jpg asked. 

The man looked shocked and almost offended, placing his hand onto his chest as he acted in a bit of an exaggerated manner, obviously trying to joke with Jpg, as If he knew him for years. “Ouch... It’s me, Tenor!” he pointed out, breathing out a laugh and soon taking off his hat, placing it onto his chest and swept his hair back in a jokingly way. “You probably didn’t recognize me... I got a haircut.” He said with a bit of a smirk. 

Jpg looked at his hair and he will admit that Tenors hair was fairly good looking. However, Jpg breathed in, raising his eyebrow at Tenor as he shook his head at him. “Nice haircut, but I’m sorry, Tenor. I really don’t know who you are.” he breathed out. Tenor squinted at him, leaning towards him in a bit of a suspicious manner. 

“Hm... Then maybe you’re not the ‘Guy’ I know...” he pointed out, Jpg shaking his head in reply. Tenor’s expression dulled as he stared at Jpg, his hands still tucked into his pocket as he somewhat chewed on his bottom lip, seeming to be in thought. He had an intent gaze on Jpg and it made him really uncomfortable. Suddenly, Tenor put one of his arms around Jpg’s shoulder; his arm bumping into his jetpack; and started directing him away from the group and towards a much quieter area, which was a nearby alleyway, making Jpg much more on edge than before. 

There was a prolong silence between the two as they walked down the side walk, Jpg noting that Tenor had a slight gimp to his walk. Finally, when they made it to the alleyway, Tenor pulled him in and let go, tucking his hands back into his pockets and blocking the exit out. Tenor pursed his lips and occasionally would lick the corners of his mouth and Jpg thought he must have had cry lip and did that out of habit or something. 

“Who are ya’...?” Tenor asked, his voice dropping the friendly trusting tone he had before and straight down to a toneless, threatening one. Jpg felt even more uncomfortable and shifted nervously, glancing around the area to see if there were anywhere to go to bail out of here. Although, he could just use his jetpack to get out of here. 

“... I’m Jetpack Guy...” He replied. 

Tenor paused. “Jetpack Guy, huh...?” he asked. Jpg nodded. Tenor frowned and tilted his head at him, obviously confused but curious. “You know, Jetpack Guy... You look an awful lot like my buddy, Guy.” he pointed out. 

Jpg paused and glanced away for a moment, then back towards Tenor. “... Really?” he asked. 

Tenor furrowed his eyebrows at him and suddenly looked frustrated. “Are you SURE you’re not Guy?” he asked, waving his arms around and gesturing to Jpg’s entire self. “Everything about you is exactly like him! Right down to his voice—God dammit! Stop messin’ with me, Guy!” he shouted in frustration, stopping his foot once on the ground and looking like a dissatisfied child, not getting what they wanted. It was admittingly a little funny to see this. 

Jpg breathed out a laugh and shook his head. “Um, no. I’m not this ‘Guy’ you know... But I do have the same name as they do.” he assured. 

Tenor looked like he was pouting for a moment as there was an uncomfortable amount of silence between the two. Tenor looked like as if he was thinking, staring out into the distance. “You know what?” If you’re not really Guy, then I think he’d want to meet you.” Tenor pointed out. “Let’s meet up around 10.” he suggested, shrugging as he did. “That’s usually the time my buddies come out and do their jobs.” He pointed out, dropping his shoulders and slouching forwards a bit. “Tell me where you’ll be at.” he asked. 

Jpg raised an eyebrow and sort of sort of shrugged, not really thinking about it, but was a little uncomfortable to know that Tenor would tell his friends about him, but decided to just straight up tell him. “... Hotel Manchot” 

Tenor slowly nodded as if he was thinking. “Hotel Manchot...” He echoed. “Alright, Jetpack Guy... We’ll be waiting for you just nearby. Just go outside around 10 and we’ll find you, got that?” Jpg furrowed his eyebrows at the thought and simply nodded. “See ya’ tonight, Jetpack Guy.” Tenor said, giving Jpg a wave and turning around to leave, but paused and turned back. “Is it alright if I call you ‘Jpg’ instead?” He asked. “Much easier and not much of a mouthful.” he pointed out. 

Jpg felt a bit annoyed by that, but decided, sure why not. Pretty much everyone else called him that back at home anyways, so there was nothing to lose by now. “Go ahead.” 

“Neato.” Finally, Tenor quickly waved and turned, walking away and leaving Jpg alone. He stood there and waited for a while, maybe for about 5 minutes as he thought about what he just got himself into for just apparently looking like someone else. He briefly thought about the time period, 1916, and what he learned about it when he was reading old files back in the EPF. 

Of course, what he only read about for this time period was some crimes and unsolved mysteries that happened around this time. He didn’t think that the year 1916 would be important. After the 5 minutes was up, Jpg hightailed it out of there and rushed back to the hotel, since that was the only place he could really go to right now, looking around to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally bump into Tenor or any of his friends he mentioned. Finally, after a few minutes of rushing back, he knew he was nearby the Hotel by now, but it was sometime away and he was actually much closer to the Theater he stumbled across last night. 

He stopped to take a break from rushing off and breathed out as he continued walking, quickly approaching the theater and stopped on the sidewalk to finally get a good look at it. Theater wasn’t as big as he thought it was last night. It was about the same size of the stage back at home, if not only slightly bigger. He curiously looked up at it trying to remember if there was any sort of mention of this really old theater in 2016, but nothing came up to mind. Jpg glanced over to the marquee sign that hung there on the side of the building, not lit up, but shining in the sunlight. “Huh... I guess it’s not open on Sundays.” he idly said to himself while itching the side of his head, thinking that made a lot of sense. 

"Or the theater does not open until around 6.” A voice chimed up, making Jpg jump. He wasn’t really expecting anyone to reply and he turned around to the voice and saw Modgeruin standing there, holding a bag of unknown contents. He honestly looked exhausted, probably a bit worse than last night. 

“Oh, hey...” Jpg greeted. “How long were you standing there?” he asked, a bit curious. Modgeruin stood there in thought for a moment, staring at nothing in particular as he tried thinking to himself. 

“I don’t know.” He admitted, itching the back of his head. Jpg raised an eyebrow at him and noticed that the usher seemed lethargic and sluggish, which kind of worried him and he was tempted to ask if he was okay but soon decided against it. “I’ve been here long enough to know you’ve asked the question to yourself.” Modgeruin said with a smile, pointing a finger at him. Jpg breathed out a bit of a laugh and nodded. 

The two stood in silence for a moment, Jpg shifting a bit uncomfortably as Modgeruin just looked tired. Jpg looked back over to him and paused, noticing that Modgeruin had a bit of an outfit change. “So, uh. I noticed you got an outfit change.” Jpg pointed out. Modgeruin paused and looked down at himself for a moment and blinked, processing what was said. 

“Oh, yeah, right.” He nodded and patted his jacket. “I thought my old outfit looked... Too much like a bellhop sort of thing... So, I changed.” he replied. His outfit did look better and less like what a bellhop would wear. He was still wearing the same brown color as before, only this time he didn’t wear the funny little hat he had before. 

“Huh... It looks okay.” 

Modgeruin smiled and nodded at him, thanking Jpg for what he said before pausing and cocking his head slightly. “What are you doing here, anyway?” he asked. Jpg stopped and sort of shrugged, just saying that he was rushing back to the hotel and he happened to have passed the Theater as he did. Jpg thought to himself about wanting to leave, he wasn’t really one for conversation and felt as if he was in a rush, also because Modgeruin seemed a little bit spacy to really hold on anyways. Modgeruin nodded at him and Jpg spoke up. 

“Well, you were probably busy and I should probably go then, huh?” he asked, breathing out a bit of an awkward laugh. Modgeruin paused and looked back up at him, looking a bit surprised. Soon, he just nodded again and said he was kind of busy. With that, Jpg began walking backwards a bit and Modgeruin just turned around and walked toward the theater, reaching into the bag he had, pulling out a few papers and then proceeding to drop everything that was previously in the bag, including a few movie reels. Jpg made a bit of a face at that, feeling as if he should go over and help him, but... Decided against it. Quickly, he turned around on his heels and rushed back towards the hotel.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4:24 PM, April 30th, 2016.

Rookie and Skip exited the Everyday Phoning Facility, Rookie hopping down the steps and marching next door, with Skip slowly following along. Skip glanced around the area, seeing that there were no other islanders around and rubbed his arm as he was admittingly a bit nervous being out and about like this with no attempt to hide. Then again, there wasn’t anyone around, besides him and Rookie. Skip jogged up to Rookie to catch and placed a hand on his shoulder, who was already at the door for the Ski Lodge and stopped him. “So, where is this Ismit person?” Skip asked, giving Rookie a bit of a wary look. Rookie grinned and turned around. 

“Well, she’s upstairs in the attic!” Rookie replied, gesturing a hand up to where the attic was and explained that she’s usually up there and doing whatever she does during the day. It was obvious that Rookie only ever spoke to her a few times in the past. Skip just nodded and opened the door for him, gesturing for Rookie to go in now, and that he did. 

Once entering, they glanced around and saw there were a group of friends hanging out with each other, too busy with their find four games and getting ready to fish to really notice that Rookie and Skip walked in. Rookie hummed to himself, muttering to himself if Ismit really was there and Skip only shrugged in return, honestly had never met her before, so he wasn’t sure If she would be wearing the same outfit, or if she changed out of it since when the picture was taken. 

He looked over to the desk beside the doorway and saw someone reading a book at the desk, also seeming not to really notice the two entering. Skip lightly bumped Rookies arm, gaining his attention. “Let’s try asking him.” Skip whispered. Quickly, Rookie nodded and immediately waved down the person at the desk. 

“Excuse me!” Rookie loudly exclaimed, startling the person at the desk and causing them to fumble with their book and yelp in surprise. They adjusted their glasses they wore and looked up at the two with a bit of a confused look before furrowing his eyebrows as he realized who had just called out to him. He breathed out a bit of a nervous laugh and placed down the book and looked up at them and before he could say anything, Rookie grinned. “Oh, I know you! You’re Agent Paprika!” he announced relatively loudly, before covering his mouth. 

Paprika stuttered and once again adjusted his glasses, giving Rookie a bit of an exasperated look, breathing out another nervous laugh. “Um, Yes. Hello, Rookie... Is there anything I can help you with?” Paprika asked, Skip immediately noticing his heavy Russian accent and paused at it, feeling a bit of a familiarity. Rookie smiled at the agent, they both didn’t really know each other personally and it was really only a work relationship between the two, since they worked at the same job but in different departments, seeing that Rookie was the communications lead and Paprika was only a Generalist. They would occasionally see each other, but they wouldn’t really speak. Aside when Rookie attempted to give out orders, but would eventually be Jpg who would end up doing that sometimes. 

Skip looked down at Paprika, giving him a bit of a confused look and attempting to just get a good look at the agent. He chuckled at Paprikas hairstyle and thought it was a bit ridiculous. It looked almost like it was a bedhead but neatly brushed and sticking up on both sides. His hair wasn’t long at all, but it was a dulled down brown color, which Skip thought was a bit strange... Then again, why was he to judge when he himself had a giant cowlick sticking up from his bright orange hair. 

Paprika scratched the back of his ear and glanced over to Skip and back to Rookie, repeating his previous question to Rookie, who perked up as he remembered why he was here. “Oh, yeah!” He chuckled. “Do you know If someone named ‘Ismit’ is here?” he questioned. “Or at least... Came by earlier?” he continued, cocking his head slightly. Paprika didn’t even take a moment to think as he breathed out a bit of a laugh at his question. 

“Oh, yeah. She’s here alright.” Paprika assured, pointing up towards the stairs going up the attic and adding that she was just upstairs and It wasn’t hard to spot her, she is wearing a white and orange striped sweater, making it very easy to spot her in a crowd. Paprika soon paused and gave the two a confused, but curious look. “Are you friends with her?” he questioned. 

Rookie and Skip stopped and gave each other side glances. They didn’t know her personally and the fact was obvious on their faces. “N—no, not really...” Rookie admitted, looking down in a bit of a sheepish manner, Skip adding that Rookie was more like an acquaintance, Rookie nodding in agreement and pointing out that Skip hadn’t met her yet, but they were going too, obviously a bit excited at the thought. 

Paprika nodded at their explanation and picked up his book again, opening it back onto the page he left off on. “Okay... I will leave you two alone now.” he said with a bit of a shrug, adjusting his glasses again and looking back down at his book and attempting to get back into it. Rookie waved at him, chuckling out a goodbye and turned around to the stairs to the Attic in long strides with Skip following behind. 

Before going up, Skip tapped Rookies arm, which got his attention. “Are you sure that this... Ismit kid would have anything useful for us—” he stuttered. “I mean you... You folks.” he corrected. Rookie grinned and nodded at him, telling that he definitely thought so, considering that she was practically there last night. They just had to ask her what she was doing there and what she saw. Basically, they’re going to try and ask her a few questions. 

After they climbed up the stairs and making it up to the Attic, Rookie and Skip surveyed the room and just as Rookie and Paprika thought, Ismit was up here. She sat at the desk in the corner of the room, practically gawking at the corkboard that hung above the desk in the corner, which was absolutely littered with books, papers, folders, and notepads. With a few sticky notes here and there. On the floor, there were fallen papers along with crumpled up ones next to a bag. 

“Hey, Ismit!” Rookie called out, practically making Ismit jump in her seat. 

She turned around and hastily adjusted her black rimmed glasses, squinting at Rookie and Skip, as if processing who she was looking at. “Oh, hi Rookie—Oh my GOSH, IS THAT A GHOST?!” she cried out suddenly, stuttering out a mess of words as she pointed at Skip. “YOU’RE THAT GHOST!” Immediately, Skip grimaced at her reaction and muttered out an ‘oh boy’. He was hoping that she wouldn’t recognize him, but considering he was a pretty big thing that happened in 2014, he probably should have expected this. “YOU TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE HOTEL!” Ismit shouted, practically vibrating in her seat. 

“Actually, the entire Island!” Rookie corrected, smiling as he did, like it was normal as the two approached her area. Ismit eyes widened at what he said and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out as if she was a bit lost for words at the moment. 

Panic flared up in the bellhop's chest and looked over to Rookie, shoving him a bit as he did. “HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?! THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET!” he shouted and making Rookie stumble as he shoved him. Rookie laughed and raised his hand at him, about to speak but was interrupted by Ismit turning to Skip and giving him a bit of a sly look. 

“Oh, you can’t hide anything from me.” She teased, looking up at the two with absolutely delight. She added that she has an entire folder full of newspapers, clippings, and pictures of Skip and an Islander named ‘ace’ she took in secrecy... As well some taken through the window of the building next door a High-Powered Camera, pulling out a few papers, and a few clippings as she spoke. Skip frowned at the mention of that agent. “However, that camera kind of broke last night.” She pointed out, turning around and picking up said camera, showing it off to the two. It looked fine to Rookie and Skip but Ismit quickly explained that its screen display doesn’t show anything anymore and she’ll have to get it fixed. 

Soon, Ismit paused and gave them a weird look. “Wait, why are you guys here?” she asked. Skip bumped Rookies arm, silently reminding him why they were here. Rookie perked up at that and cleared his throat, as if trying to sound like a professional. 

“So...” Rookie started, putting his hands behind his back. “We were told that you saw a bright light late last night.” He laughed in a rather awkward way, pointing out that they heard this from rumors, Skip nodding in agreement. Ismit tilted her head at them for a moment, thinking about what they were talking about but perked up and pointed at them as she realized. 

“Oh, yeah that!” she giggled. Ismit placed a finger on her chin and thought for a moment as she turned around to fully be facing the two, nodding as she did. “Yeah, I saw that light... It nearly gosh darned blinded me even more!” she joked, chucking as she adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat. She told them that she was able to take a picture of what happened last night, adding that despite her broken display, she was still able to develop the pictures she took last night. Ismit turned back around and leaned down, rummaging into the bag that was nearby for a bit. Rookie raised an eyebrow at it and thought that her bag must have been pretty heavy, judging from the size of it and the many papers inside. 

After a short moment of struggling, she pulled out a photograph and handed it to Skip, Rookie looking over his shoulder to see as well. The picture barely looked like it had taken anything, the exposure had made it almost completely white. However, squinting at it, you could make out a very faint silhouette of a person and a bit of shrub... But that was it. The two squinted at the picture, trying to make out what exactly was happening. Rookie pointed at the faint silhouette. “Do you think that’s Jet pack guy?” he whispered. Skip nodded, whispering back about how that must be him and pointed out that they did see the security footage. 

“What were you doing outside late last night, anyways?” Skip asked. 

Ismit scratched the back of her ear and thought about it for a moment. “I was outside trying to take some pictures of the sky!” she shrugged, soon squinting as she did. “Those aliens are out there, I know it... I’ve seen them!” she exclaimed. Immediately, Rookie smiled at the mention of aliens and jumped into the subject with her, adding what he knew about Aliens and whatnot, Ismit becoming excited and listening to Rookies poor explanation of what he knew. 

Skip sighed as they began a conversation there that soon changed to a different topic as Rookie and Ismit continued pointing things they knew about and sharing them with each other. Rookie asked what she was doing here and immediately, Ismit grabbed some papers and adjusted to at least be able to hold them correctly and pointed out how she was doing research about the mysteries of the island, asking him about if he knew about Scorn the Dragon King. Of course, Rookie knew about him and Ismit began rambling on and on about the newspaper clippings, legends, the party in general. She then mentioned Gary, Garianna, and some theories she had. 

As they continued, Skip glanced down to the papers that were littered all over the desk and paused. He looked over to Ismit, who was still busy talking to Rookie. “Hey, mind if I...?” he spoke, pointing to the mess of papers. Ismit paused and turned her head to him and processed his request for a second before grinning, nodding and giving Skip her permission to go through them, turning back to Rookie and continued whatever subject they were on now. 

Skip stepped to the desk and papers and began quietly looking through them. There were many clippings and quickly jotted down notes, as well as many pictures here and there. It was almost a little overwhelming on where to even start and it made him think that Ismit is a very unorganized person. There were probably years of piled up theories and history that were written down on taken pictures of here on this desk and he almost didn’t even want to think of what Ismit might have had back at home or in that bag of hers. 

Finally, he began to skim through some papers, only giving a glance at some things that didn’t exactly catch his eye. Sometimes he would pause to skim through a theory he found a little interesting and just look at the picture that came with it. Many of them mentioned Aliens, the EPF, The Lighthouse, The Attic, and the Box dimension. These theories would even go into some of the Mascots of the island and only a few villains. Skip itched the side of his head when he saw that he wasn’t even mentioned. It was kind of disappointing and reminded him of the EPF handbook he saw and again, he wasn’t even mentioned in that either... Only in some secret on the page for Gary, and that was just a rumor. 

A while later of just skimming through, he was beginning to become a bit bored and he glanced up towards Rookie and Ismit. They were still talking and by now Rookie had taken a seat. Their conversation seemed to have changed to the Ice Burg or whatever. Skip sighed and placed the piles of papers back down and was about to move on to another pile but stopped at a small clipping slipping out from on top. He raised an eyebrow and stared at it for a second, recognizing it was from the papers she pulled out earlier. He knelt down and picked up the paper and took a look at it. It was a clipping, which made him furrow his eyebrows in confusion. 

He recognized the old design of this newspaper and was really surprised. It was from a newspaper around his time, which only made him even more confused as to how Ismit had this, considering how old it was. He picked it up and took a moment to process it and looked back over to Ismit. “Hey, what’s this?” he asked, holding the paper. Ismit paused and glanced over to him and smiled. 

“Oh, that’s a clipping from a newspaper.” She replied. 

Skip nodded, a little irked at her response. “Uh-huh... I see that. But I also see it’s from around the 1900’s.” He pointed out, which made Ismit raise her eyebrows in a bit of surprise and fully turn around, voicing her surprise at how Skip was even able to recognize that. She rummaged through her big bag and pulled out a rather old looking Newspaper. It was yellowed, wrinkled, and a bit torn at some edges, which made Skip raise an eyebrow. Which was understandable, seeing as how this newspaper was nearly 100 years old or something. 

“Yeah, it was from around...” She thought for a moment and shrugged. “1916 or 1917?” she questioned herself, pointing out that it was nearly 100 years old as she handed Skip the newspaper, who gingerly took it. “I was doing some research about some weird mysteries from around that time.” she muttered, looking to go into some deep thought. She added that she stopped looking into it because she came to a bit of a dead end. “All I know is that whatever caused those mysteries were apart of those... Groups.” she continued, thinking about it for a moment. “The mafia groups...? Something like that.” Skip shuddered at the mention of the mafia. 

“Ooh... Spooky.” Rookie added. Ismit nodded in agreement. Skip quietly sighed to himself and looked down at the clipping first and all it said was something about that happened at a ‘Nearby Building’ but it didn’t really catch his attention, seeing that it didn’t really go into detail about it. He placed the clipping down and held up the newspaper and began to read it. “So, what kind of mysteries do you think happened?” Rookie asked, leaning forwards slightly as he did. 

Ismit thought about his question and shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure.” She replied, adding that there could be many or only a few, and that there were most likely reasons as to this one thing happened or why no one knows about this on the subject. She pointed out that not even the Authorities at the time wasn’t entirely sure about all those things. “Those groups were very good at hiding what they did... and If they didn’t, then it was fairly obviously they weren’t doing their job all that well.” She joked with a bit of a shrug. 

Skip continued to read through the old newspaper. It was basically as old as he was and the thought of it made him chuckle. He turned the page and stopped at a picture that was attached to a story. It depicted a blurry picture of familiar people he had faint memory of, which made him squint at the picture and realized there were two people in that picture that looked awfully alike, almost like they were the same person. He tilted his head slightly and came much closer to the paper to get a better look. 

“You know,” Ismit started, looking over to Rookie. “The Mafia all those years ago, it was assumed by a good few islanders that the many groups had control over many things.” She whispered, loud enough that Skip was still able to hear. “You had to pay them for their protection if you were in some sort of business that made a lot of money of something.” Ismit continued, itching the side of her head. She admitted she wasn’t entirely sure what those groups did but she did know they were most likely involved with so many bad things. “Like, that one with the fires.” Ismit finished. 

Rookie breathed out a bit of a nervous laugh. “Oh, that’s really scary...” 

Ismit nodded, agreeing with him and saying that wasn’t even scratching the surface of what they did. They were very keen on keeping what they did a secret from the general public and everyone else, what was their business, was their business, no one else needed to know what was going on with them. “However, they’ve been dead for a couple years now, so it’s whatever.” Ismit chuckled. Rookie laughed with her and agreed, thinking that was understandable. 

“Hey, Rookie...” Skip muttered. Rookie looked up at Skip and tilted his head at him. “I think I found something.” He whispered, pointing at the newspaper. Immediately, Rookie perked up and grinned, getting up from his seat. Skip turned to Ismit, who looked a little confused and raised the newspaper. “Can we borrow this?” Skip asked. 

She looked a little nervous at the question and fiddle around with her sleeve for a moment. “Oh... Alright.” she hesitated. “Just be careful with it, it’s very brittle and the only copy I have!” she pointed out. Rookie nodded and assured her that they would be extra careful with it, which made Ismit relax a little. “Okay... but Promise!” 

“Cross my heart!” Rookie assured once more, making a crossing motion at his chest. Ismit smiled at his promise and soon paused at their request, but before she could really ask, Rookie waved and rushed towards the stairs. “Thank you!” He called out, telling Skip to hurry and that they had to tell the others what they found, but it was obvious he wasn’t quite sure what exactly Skip had found, but he trusted his words. 

Ismit waved back at him, a little confused but smiled. “You’re welcome!” she called out, asking that they should hand out sometime, maybe. Rookie turned and nodded, completely agreeing to hang out with her. He then practically ran down the stairs, skipping down a few and jumping at the last step, Skip hearing him hit the ground downstairs, who was carefully folding the newspaper and following Rookie down the stairs. 

He paused at a short sound Ismit made, and looked over to Ismit, who gave him a bit of a smile. “Thank you two for listening to what I had to say.” she murmured sheepishly. Skip blinked at her and nodded once at her and made his way down stairs to catch up with Rookie, who was most likely outside by now and just as he thought, Rookie was already gone, waiting outside for him. 

As soon as he left the building, he saw Rookie standing there. Rookie grinned and breathed out a laugh and apologizing for accidentally leaving him behind. Skip only shook his head and told him not to worry too much about it, he didn’t go too far anyways. Skip glanced down to the newspaper that was tucked underneath his arm and made a face at it. “We shouldn’t dilly dally, let’s go.” he murmured. 

Rookie paused at his tone of voice, noticing that it seemed to have changed from earlier and it worried him. However, he only nodded and the two walked into the Everyday Phoning Facility. After going through the procedures in order to enter the EPF, they entered the elevator and made their way down to the lower levels, where Gary’s lab was located. Once on the floor, they stepped out, Skip speed walking down the hall as Rookie practically had to jog to keep up with him. 

“Hey, skip? Could you may be slow down a little bit!?” Rookie huffed. Skip glanced behind him and stopped, waiting for him to catch up and sheepishly apologized to him as soon as soon as Rookie caught up. “Man,” Rookie gasped. “You walk so fast!” he continued, his breathing a bit labored. Skip only chuckled and once again apologized to him. After Rookie caught his breath, Skip turned on his heels and continued power walking down the hall towards the lab, the last time he knew where Gary was located, this time Rookie was able to keep up with him. 

“Hey, Skip?” Rookie asked, gaining the attention of the bellhop. “Is there something... Wrong?” he asked with a bit of a head tilt. Skip paused at his question and breathed out a laugh. He shook his head and told him nothing was wrong, adding that he was simply... Excited. Which made Rookie raise an eyebrow but he smiled, thinking that Skip was actually happy to try and help finding Jpg. He knew those two never really had the best relationship, so this made him happy to hear that. 

Finally, they made it into the lab and Rookie pushed the doors opened and glanced around, seeing that Gary wasn’t immediately in sight. Confused, he stepped him and called out for Gary, receiving no response. Rookie hummed, crossing his arms and placing a hand onto his chin. “Huh... I guess he’s not here.” He guessed. They stood there for a moment before Rookie pulled out his phone and was about to either call or Text Gary. Suddenly, there was a loud clattering sound of multiple metal objects falling over with Gary shouting in the other room. “Oh, there he is.” Rookie smiled, the two following the continuing sound of falling objects, this time being shuffled around and then promptly being dropped again as Gary was muttering something to himself in obvious frustration. 

They went around the corner and spotted Gary crouched under a desk, reaching for something that most likely rolled underneath. “Hey, Gary!” Rookie greeted rather loudly, startling Gary and slamming the back of his head on the bottom of the desk. He let out a yelp and grabbed his head and curled up slightly as he hissed in pain. “Oh my gosh, are you okay, Gary!?” Rookie asked, Skip only chuckling in response to Gary’s fumbling around. 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine!” Gary assured, crawling out from underneath the desk, still rubbing the back of his head. He stood up and immediately, the two saw how rather messy Gary looked, as if he was working on something that involved fire or something like that, probably something related to his machines, most likely. “What can I help you with?” Gary asked, before pausing and giving the two a bit of a weird look. “Didn’t Dot tell you two to meet up with her in the wilderness?” He asked in a bit of a confused manner. 

Rookie paused and remembered that fact and laughed at his forgetfulness. However, he smiled and turned to Skip, tapping his arm a few times as he encouraged him to tell Gary what he found. Skip only cleared his throat and pulled out the newspaper, which caught the attention of the scientist. “Yeah... We uh, found something that could help with the, uh... Mystery.” Skip muttered, holding out the newspaper. 

Gary briefly looked down at his hands and quickly wiped them on his lab coat. “What may that be?” he asked, taking the newspaper from Skip. He adjusted his glasses and viewed it, soon raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Goodness me, this paper is about 100 years old!” he exclaimed, looking up at the two and asking them where they found it. Rookie explained that Ismit was the one who had it, adding that she lent it out them and promised her that they would be extra careful with it, Rookie empathizing on being careful with it. Skip nodded, mumbling out about its age. 

Gary nodded and looked down at the paper for a moment, before glancing back up at the two. “Alright, how about you two show me the evidence for this mystery?” he smiled, shuffling over to the nearby table they sat at earlier and moving away from his mess he created. Rookie laughed, leaning against the table and admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure what Skip even found. 

“Well, now you’re going to find out.” Skip stated. 

They looked down at the newspaper, Gary expecting to see what he was trying to show on the front page, like how it would usually be. "May 11th, 1916, Five Citizens reported dead in a crash, along with group of Mobsters who are reported to have been included in the recent arsenic attacks. About 15 casualties have been reported...” There was a short pause from Gary, who was extremely bewildered at the contents of the front page and glanced up at Skip with a bit of a confused look. “How... is this connect to our case?” Gary asked, understandably confused at how out of context all of this was. “This all seems to be one of the older cases we have in the files.” He thought to himself, placing a hand onto his chin. 

Skip groaned to himself and turned the page, quickly pointing at another story that was there. “Look at the picture, Gadget Guy.” Skip hissed. Gary paused at his tone and looked down at what Skip was pointing at and hummed to himself as he quickly skimmed through the short story there and studied the image above. Rookie placed a hand onto Skips shoulder and whispered if he was fine, only for Skip to mutter out that he was fine and that nothing was wrong. 

In big bold letters above the image read, ‘Suspects’ and as Gary studied the image, he slowly realized who these people looked like and who one of them was, as Rookie leaned in to see what the image was. Rookie grinned and pointed at the image. “Hey, that looks like—!” He started, only to abruptly stop. The photo was difficult to see what exactly was going on, because of the assumed motion blur that was happening, but the image depicted three people running down a street of some sort, two of the figures covered their faces with hats, one of the two barely able to as the third looked to be stumbling had a bit of a surprised, yet mortified expression on his face, looking directly at whoever had taken the picture. His shades were displaced, making it very easy to see the emotion in his eyes, as he was pulled along by one of the taller figures in the photo. 

"That’s the Jetpack guy!” Rookie exclaimed, obviously shocked to see Jpg in the newspaper from 100 years ago. Gary breathed out a heavy sigh and stood up straight, placing a hand onto his chin. 

“Oh dear...” Gary muttered. “This is quite the predicament we found ourselves in.” he continued, breathing out a bit of a chuckle as he began to think about all of this. He shrugged and looked over to the two. “Looks like we know where he is now.” Gary pointed out in a bit of a nonchalant manner.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 9:40 PM, April, 30th 1916.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao sorry this took me Forever to update lmao and sorry, There's a Few Swearing but you know how it be

It was quiet and dark, cracks of the moonlight shining through the window. The room was relatively cool, making it comfortable sleep in if you were underneath a blanket or if you were simply used to it. The small clock on the nightstand ticked quietly as Jpg slept soundly in the hotel bed, the book he previously read resting on his chest. He had fallen asleep to a book he was reading, which was about a ghostly train that came by to those who were at a very low point in their life, whisking them away from their current point of their lives to a place that seemed better. Of course, this book was only a legend, a fairytale of sorts and not true in anyway... But it was still an interesting read. 

Jpg stirred awake by the sound of some guests walking down the halls, talking rather loudly and entering their own room, slamming their door as they did. Jpg blinked a few times, trying registering what was going on and lifted his head from his pillow and glanced around the room in a bit of a daze. Sluggish and still very sleepy, he wiped his eyes to get the sleep out of them and sighed, patting the side of his face and feeling a little grossed out once he realized he had been drooling a bit in his sleep and wiped that off as well with his sleeve. 

He groaned and dropped back down onto the bed. Picking up the book he was reading to see what page he left off on and closed it, rolling over and placing it onto the light stand nearby. He laid there for a long moment in a rather lazy manner and looked over to the small clock nearby. 9:45... Jpg sighed heavily. He almost didn’t want to go meet up with those people, he was already exhausted from interacting with a lot of other people today and he wasn’t really looking forward to meeting these new people. 

However, he got up to clean himself up and decided to go anyways. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do right now and he still had to find a way back home! His best option he could currently think of was to find someone who was like Gary and try get them to find a way to get him back to where he came from... Possibly a relative of his, because of course Gary would know who this unknown imaginary relative Jpg made up in his head would be. He rolled his eyes at himself and made his way to the small sink in the corner of the room and washed his face, drying it shortly after. 

Picking up the Garment bag, he pulled out his normal black suit which was now clean and started getting changed into it. Once he was done, he placed the previous one he wore back into the bag and place it onto the desk, leaving it there for now. Jpg looked down at himself and patted his pants, happy to now be in his normal outfit and feeling much more comfortable. Suddenly, he realized he forgot his stuff in the other suit's pockets and quickly turned around and dug into the bag, digging into them and taking out his stuff, knowing he shouldn’t leave this stuff anywhere. There were coins, reminders written on some sticky notes, and his EPF Badge. He paused and stared at it for a moment, again thinking about home. He wondered what they were doing and if they even realized that he was gone. 

He breathed out a sigh and thought about dealing with that later as he shoved his badge and other stuff into his pockets and zipped up the garment bag once again. Picking up his shades from the nightstand, he walked over to his jetpack that sat on top the pillow and he strapped himself in, glancing back over to the clock. 9:50. He hummed and quickly made his way out the room, locking the door and rushing down to the lobby. 

Stepping out of the elevator, Jpg looked around. Obviously, it wasn’t as busy as it was earlier, which was good, he guessed. There were a few people here and there speaking to each other rather loudly about random subjects he didn’t really care about. Just as he was about to take off, he paused at the sound of a familiar sound of a piano song playing. It sounded like it came from down the hall in a different room and he stopped briefly to listen to it. He swears he heard this song before, but he wasn’t entirely sure what the song was called. He was sure he only heard it once or twice in the past and never really thought about it... He couldn’t exactly remember where he heard it from as well. The song was in a more major scale and much more jazzy sounding, compared to the one he could remember, which was more of a Minor scale. Hearing this made Jpg wonder if there was a sort of ‘hang out’ area in the hotel and he was almost curious to go check it out. However, glancing over to the clock, he saw that he wouldn’t have time to go and do that. Maybe some other time, he thought as he made his way to the door and out to the front. 

He stood on the steps and glanced around the area. It was dark and quiet, not a lot of people were wandering around at this time, obviously, and no vehicles were around either. Only some that were parked here and there on the sides of the streets. The night sky was clear of any clouds letting the stars shine bright as the moonlight lit up the streets, as well as the streetlights that shined a yellow hue in its incandescent lights. The silence was a comfortable one and Jpg didn’t feel all that uncomfortable here where he waited. He never did leave home, when he thinks about it... He has only traveled to a different point in time and is possibly standing in an area that was familiar to him in his time. Probably somewhere in the Plaza, to be honest. Although, he couldn’t be entirely sure right now. 

He hopped down the steps and stepped around the corner, waiting behind the concrete wall of the stairs as he waited, leaning against it as he did. There wasn’t much for him to do right now besides wait and he stared up at the sky as he did, thinking about what was going to happen when Tenor showed up. He wasn’t exactly sure when Tenor and his friends would come along... Really, the only instructions he was— ‘We’ll be waiting for you just nearby’ and to come out at around 10 and that they’ll find him. That was really it and he was beginning to think that maybe he showed up before they did. He sighed. It wasn’t unusual for him to show up early, but it definitely made him wait for some time every time he did that. He itched the back of his ear as he thought of him waiting for Ace, the agent in most missions he had with them back in the PSA days and in recent times... Mostly in the PSA days, though. 

Adjusting his shades and the straps of his jetpack, he glanced around the area tried thinking on what could possibly happen and if him agreeing to this would affect the time line of events in the future and if him doing this would cause some pretty weird things to happen. He almost wanted to go back inside and go back to thinking of a way back his time. He knew this sort of thing had happened before, where someone had messed around with a time machine, only to be completely lost within time. He hoped that wouldn’t happen to him... Really, all he could remember before he ended up here was fog, a bright blinding light, and then he walked into a tree. He really couldn’t explain anything that had happened and it confused him a lot. But he knew that Gary would most likely have an explanation for all of this. Although, Gary wasn’t here to tell him anything about that. 

Suddenly, he was taken out of thought by the sound of footsteps on the side walk and hushed voices coming closer to where he stood. “Do you think he’s here, or would we have to go in and find him?” A voice asked. However, they were interrupted by another much more familiar voice. 

“No, I’m sure he’s out here, somewhere... I told him to meet us out here.” Jpg immediately knew that was Tenor, just from that accent of his and heard an assortment of movement. However, the other voice sounded somewhat familiar for some reason, but the other thing that threw him off was the accent the voice had... It sounded similar to Tenors, if not a bit thicker than Tenor. “Go check over there, I’ll go check over here.” said the voice, Jpg hearing footsteps coming closer. 

“But what if he’s inside?” Tenor asked, making the steps stop. There was a short pause before the other voice sighed. They guessed that they might as well go inside if that was the case, but told tenor to keep looking around, just in case. “Oh yeah, when do you think Guy would come on by?” Tenor asked. 

Again, there was a short pause. “Oh, I’m sure he’s coming.” the voice replied. 

Jpg continued to listen, hearing the footsteps come closer and quickly, he stood up straight and thought that he should show himself by now, since they’re most likely searching for him. However, right as he was about to go around the corner, he bumped into a large figure, causing him to stumble backwards a bit. He looked up at what he bumped into and felt a bit intimidated by the tall structure of this person that stood in front of him. Whoever they were, they were definitely much, much taller than Rookie. This person had to be around 6’3, which was only slightly taller than rookie, although, that was still pretty damn tall. 

This figure leaned down to take a better look at Jpg and them doing this let Jpg also get a better look at whoever this was. Jpg was immediately thrown off by the appearance of this person, seeing that they looked almost exactly like Rookie. The difference was that this Rookie wore a different had. He wore a desaturated green dress shirt that had its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Over top that, there was a red vest striped with a paler shade of red. He also wore pants that looked like Khakis, but they looked to be adjusted just for him. They had some sort of elastic cotton fabric at the ends of each pants leg, probably there to keep his pants from dragging around, but that was hard to imagine his pants dragging around, seeing how tall this man was... On his sides were suspenders that were hanging around as well. He also wore a hat that was the same color of his dress shirt, if not a bit darker. 

Jpg blinked in bewilderment, unsure what to really think of who he was seeing. “Oh, my god, Rookie?” he quietly muttered out. The entire time, this Rookie was staring at him, as if he was trying to process what he was looking at as well. He raised his eyebrows, which caused his red triangle shades to slide down the bridge of his nose. 

“Hey, there you are!” the man exclaimed. “You came here earlier than I expected,” he continued, standing up straight and looking down at Jpg, tucking his hands into his pockets. “When did you get here? Were you just waiting here or something?” he asked. Jpg hesitantly nodded, clearing his throat as he did. The man looked a bit surprised at his reply. “Oh, really? I thought you had to do something back at base before you got here...” he finished looking a bit confused. 

Jpg noted the accent of Rookie accent and thought it was strange to hear it from someone who looked exactly like someone he knew... Of course, he knew this couldn’t be Rookie, because how on earth would he have gotten here without the help of Gary. Also, the fact that this man was obviously a bit taller than Rookie and he felt much smaller than he had ever felt before, seeing that he was around 5’0 or something around there... 

The man turned to Jpg and flicked his head, gesturing to Jpg to follow him. “Come on, what are you waiting for?” he asked, pulling out a toothpick from his pocket and placing it between his teeth as he walked up ahead. Jpg quickly followed, still confused at this man and almost wanted to ask who he was, but decided to stay quiet for now. Jpg knew that this must have been a relative of Rookies and he now understood why Rookie was so tall. 

There was a short silence between the two as the man glanced around, possibly looking for Tenor before he turned and looked at Jpg. “That’s a nice suit you got goin’ on there.” the man complimented, smiling as he did. “When did you get it? Today or...?” he continued, pointing at Jpg and tilting his head as he did. Jpg glanced down at his suit and nervously adjusted his shades and Jetpack, realizing that this man must be mistaking him for someone else he knew and he had an idea of who that could possibly be. 

“Thanks... I’ve had this for a while now.” Jpg muttered. 

The man nodded. “Huh... You never told me.” he pointed out, shrugging as he did and turning away, putting a hand up to his mouth. “Ey, Tenor!” he called out, which was followed by an assortment of movement in a nearby alleyway. “I found Guy!” the man continued. 

There was the sound of Tenor nearly tripping over some boxes, creating various loud box noises as Tenor cursed to himself and soon emerged from the alleyway, kicking a box out of his way in a fit of frustration. However, the box didn’t go too far. “Stupid box...” he mumbled under his breath, before turning towards the man and Jpg. “Really? Where was he hiding?” he asked, adjusting his hat and pushing the previously kicked box out of his way as he rushed towards them. The man pointed his thumb behind him and explained that Jpg was hiding just behind the steps nearby. Tenor cocked his head and glanced over to the stairs. “Huh... Then where’s that other guy?” he asked, glancing around the area in confusion. The man paused and hummed at his question. 

“Do you think we have to go in and find him?” he asked, turning to the hotel and making a bit of a face at the thought of going in. 

Jpg raised his eyebrows and realized that Tenor had mistaken him for someone he knew once again and put his hands out in front of him and pointing at himself. “Wait, wait, are you two talking about me?” he asked, pointing out to Tenor that he asked him to come out earlier that day. The turned to face him with a bit of a surprised look, before Tenor squinted at him for a moment with a confused look. 

“Oh, right!” he exclaimed, bopping himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand and laughed. “Aw, jeez, I’m stupid.” he chuckled. Rookie raised his eyebrows at Jpg and looked back over to Tenor, who pointed at Jpg. “Yeah, he’s the one I told you two about earlier today.” he explained to the man. The man furrowed his eyebrows in confused and pointed his thumb at Jpg. 

“He looks exactly like Guy; you didn’t tell me that at all!” he pointed out. 

Tenor let out a nervous laugh, adjusting his hat in obvious embarrassment. “I forgot to mention that...” he chuckled, clearing his throat and looking over to Jpg. “But, yea... Were lookin’ for you, Jpg.” he finished. There was a short moment where the man stared at Tenor for a long moment, before he shook his head and glanced away. 

“Well, I’m here now...” Jpg started, adjusting the straps on his Jetpack. “So, what now?” 

Once again, Tenor cleared his throat and stood straight up. “Well, we wait for Guy of course... I’m sure he won’t take too long.” he said with a shrug, pointing out that it doesn’t take too long to walk over to the hotel, as the other nodded in agreement. There was a short awkward silence between the three, as the other stood there, giving Jpg occasional confused glances... Which made him a bit uncomfortable. He couldn’t tell if the guy was generally curious or if he had something else in mind. He wasn’t sure what that would be, but he didn’t bother to think about it. 

Suddenly, the man quickly looked away down the side walk and grinned. “Well, speaking of the devil, here he comes now!” he announced, pointing in the direction from where Jpg could only assume where Tenor and the Rookie look-a-like came from. They turned around and Jpg froze at the sight of himself approaching with his hands in his pockets. Jpg went wide-eyed as he stared at this guy tread towards the group. The just as small man stared down at the sidewalk as he approached, seeming not to notice Jpg just yet as Tenor and the other man with them greeted this look-a-like. 

“Hey, you made it!” Tenor called out, earning the guys attention. He looked up from staring down at the sidewalk and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Jpg, both of them staring at each other in a bit of confusion and surprise. Jpg took this time to get a really good look at his look-a-like and realized that he practically was wearing the same outfit today and immediately felt awkward. He also noted that the suit he got must have been premade for this guy specifically, for some odd reason. He couldn’t really figure out otherwise, unless those specific suits were just a general style. 

The guy turned to Tenor. “You didn’t mention that he would look exactly like me.” He mentioned, obviously annoyed and possibly a bit off-put by it all. Tenor breathed out a laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Ah... Well, hey to you too.” he chuckled in a nervous fashion. 

“Darn goof forgot to mention it.” the larger man replied, earning a bit of a sharp sigh from the smaller one, striding towards Jpg with his hands still in his pockets. He stopped in front of him and tilted his head slightly, Jpg being able to see how he was squinting at him through his shades. However, it was hard to tell what he was thinking or feeling right now and Jpg was a bit on edge. He couldn’t tell if the guy was mad, upset, freaked out, or anything of the sort... He kind of wished he could stay as composed at this guy, because right now he’s freaking out internally. Jpg didn’t think he would be meeting a look-a-like of him and it was very strange. He idly wondered if this guy was a relative of his that he didn’t know about or if he just happened to be a doppelganger. 

They continued to stare at each other for a short moment, Jpg unsure what to really do until he felt a subtle pressure be applied to his chest and, confused, Jpg glanced down. It took him only a split second to realize what the guy was holding before Jpg sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh my god, that is a gun—” he blurted out to himself, immediately taking a step back away and putting his hands up in a defensive manner. “Alright, look—Let’s not get hasty!” he pleaded in a nervous fashion. 

Suddenly, the guy stepped forward and aggressively grabbed Jpg by his tie, yanking him forward. His came down to a near hiss as he spoke, obviously displeased with the mere presence of Jpg. “Who the hell do you work for?” he growled, pressing the tip of the gun into his chest. “What you all are up too, you’re surely going to regret it, you freak—” he continued. 

Jpg shook his head with his mouth slightly agape as he stared at him with a bit of confusion. “N-no, sir.” he stuttered. “I don’t work for anyone and I’m not up to anything, I swear.” he stammered, holding his breath when he felt the gun press a little harder against his chest. There was a long pause with just the two staring for a short moment and with a huff, the guy moved away the gun, shoving it back into his coat where he apparently pulled it out from before. Jpg stumbled backwards slightly and breathed out a sigh, relieved nothing had happened there. He glanced over to Tenor and the taller man and noticed that they both suddenly looked a bit nervous... He could imagine why. 

His look-a-like turned his attention to the taller one and pointed his thumb at Jpg as he turned on his heels to turn the other way. “Rook, pick him up. We’re going back to base.” he ordered, Rook nodding in reply and briefly confusing Jpg at what was just said. 

“Alright, Guy.” Rook said with a shrug, stepping towards Jpg, who looked up at him with an alarmed expression. 

“Excuse me—” Suddenly, Rook picked up Jpg with ease and held him underneath his arm, making Jpg yelp in response. “H-hey, put me down!” Jpg shouted. He didn’t like being picked up like this, especially with his height, but that didn’t stop Rook as he adjusted his hold on Jpg, nearly dropping on a few times. It was so embarrassing. Rook was much taller than he was, so his feet wasn’t even dragging along the ground as Rook walked. 

“We got to show him off to the boss, to make sure he ain’t some sort of lyin’ bootlegger.” Guy continued, soon walking beside Rook. Tenor and Rook nodded at him, humming as they did. 

Jpg glanced between the group and wiggled a bit, trying to get Rook to let go of him since this was a very uncomfortable position, he was in. However, Rook only adjusted his grip on him and once again, nearly dropped Jpg, causing him to yelp and his shades become slightly displaced. He huffed in annoyance and hung there in defeat as he just let the three practically kidnap him and take him to a strange brand-new place. A little while later, Rook became annoyed at Jpg’s Jetpack. He constantly had to adjust his hold on him and would have to hold him much tighter that it had become even more uncomfortable for Jpg than it was before “What the heck is this thing on your back?” Rook asked in annoyance, poking at the jetpack at he asked, breaking the silence between the group. 

Jpg glanced up at Rook, shifting uncomfortably in Rook’s grip. “That’s my Jetpack.” He informed, giving Rook a bit of a scowl. There was brief anger in the man's face before it devolved into confusion. The three glanced over at each other, as if silently asking each other the same question and only Tenor shrugged in reply. 

“What the heck is a Jetpack?” Rook asked. Jpg let out a heavy sigh and let himself hang. He honestly didn’t want to explain it again to someone who would most likely ask him to fly it again. So, he decided to just keep quiet and maybe reply to them if they became a bit more insistent. 

As they walked, the night had gotten darker. The only light that illuminated the streets were from the Street lights and the moon. However, the moon was becoming obscured by the dark clouds that had been building up in the sky. A couple buildings they passed had lights shining out of the windows, Jpg seeing some activity going on inside. There were also the bright fancy marquee signs that hung horizontally on some buildings as well, their lights shining in their bright yellow dazzling lights. 

Jpg always thought those sorts of lights were nice to see, but he would never put something like that in his home, like what some people had done in his time. He could remember some islanders he had to visit for work related purposes had them in their homes. It hung on their walls as some fancy text was written in them. Obviously, they were modernized and they were most likely decorating their homes to be some sort of restaurant or something of the sort... He never understood the appeal of those sort of things. Groups of people were stressful sometimes and he would get headaches from how loud it becomes. Also, light in general caused headaches for him. 

Suddenly, Guy spoke up, breaking the prolonged and somewhat awkward silence between the group. “So, what’s your name?” he asked, glancing down at Jpg. He looked at Guy and hesitated, watching the Guy adjust his shades at him as he waited for an answer. 

“It’s... Jetpack Guy.” he replied. He thought it would be better to have a difference between the two of them, so it wouldn’t cause a confusion. He, he felt more comfortable with that nickname, anyways while being in this time. It brought a sort of weird comfort to him. He knew he never liked the nickname, especially ‘JPG’, but now that he was in this sort of situation, he wanted to cling onto something that reminded him of his home and his time... And Rookie. 

Tenor leaned down to be at eye level with Jpg, causing him to walk in a strange way. “So, you named yourself after your, uh—” he paused and glanced behind Jpg. “Your... Jetpack?” he asked. Jpg made a face at the implication that he named that himself and frowned at Tenor. 

“No. It’s what everyone calls me from where I come from.” Jpg bluntly replied. “It’s a nickname.” 

Rook breathed out. “And you let it happen?” he asked. Jpg paused before he nodded at him, replying to him that yes, he really did just let it happen. 

Guy hummed at his reply. “Interesting.” he idly added. Jpg glanced up at Guy and watched him tap Rook and do some sort of hand motion. Rook nodded in return and a moment later, he swung Jpg from under his arm and placed him back onto the ground, spooking Jpg and making him yelp out in surprise. His legs had fallen asleep while hanging there for that amount of time Rook had been holding him. So, he fell backwards and landed on his butt on the concrete sidewalk. The three just watched him for a moment before Guy motioned his hand at Jpg. “Get up, let’s go.” he ordered, waiting for Jpg to stand. 

Jpg frowned at him and proceeded to do as he was told, standing back up. Guy adjusted his shades at him and turned on his heels and continued walking, the other two following just behind as he did. Jpg shook the static feeling out of his legs and followed the group, trailing behind them as he dusted himself off. “Where are we going?” he asked, hoping one of them would reply to him. 

Tenor glanced behind himself at Jpg and slowed his pace, soon treading beside Jpg. He leaned closer and spoke in a hushed tone. “We’re going to see their boss, just downtown.” he informed, placing a hand onto Jpg’s arm and tugging him closer. "Apparently, you’re enough of a threat to cause Guy to freak out or somethin’.” he chuckled. Jpg raised an eyebrow at what he said and wondered why that was. He didn’t do anything besides existing, unless Guy somehow knew something was off about him... Although, he wouldn’t be wrong at all. 

There was a short pause before Tenor leaned a little closer. “Ya’ know... I’ve never had seen their boss before.” he whispered, looking up at Rook and Guy as they walked behind them. Jpg furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and muttered an ‘oh?’ at him, to which Tenor only shrugged in reply. “No one really did, really.” he replied. ‘It’s been a really big mystery for quite some time now...” He continued, adding that their boss was like some sort of shadow figure and it was really hard to make out the features looked on their face. He breathed out a laugh. “Although, it could just be that light of theirs that does that.” he wondered. 

Jpg paused and gave Tenor a confused look. “Do you not work with them?” he asked. 

Once again, Tenor only shrugged, making a face as he did. “Well, only sometimes.” he replied, pursing his lips as he did. “I work for someone else and we’re all called ‘The Hopscotch Gang’.” he continued. Immediately, Jpg choked back a laugh and cleared his throat. 

“The Hopscotch Gang?” he echoed. 

Tenor nodded, not noticing Jpg’s short fit there. “Our name is pretty literal.” he laughed in a bit of an awkward manner, starting to do a sort of hang motion as if he were tossing something. “We play hopscotch and we’re all pretty good at it, you see?” 

There was a short pause between them as they continued walk. “Is that all you do?” Jpg asked. 

Tenor cocked his head and leaned back slightly in an offended way. “No, of course we do other things!” he replied, before turning away, looking to be a little bit embarrassed. “It’s not... not as...” he stuttered, pausing as if looking for a word, making a bit of spinning hand motion as he thought about it to himself. “... Out-there.” he finsihed. 

Jpg heard Rook snicker to himself in front of him. Tenor smiled and continued his stroll. Jpg thought about what he was told. “Hopscotch gang...” he quietly thought to himself. He hummed and grimaced at a thought. Is he really going to deal with some old gangs in the 1900’s? Nothing good ever comes from them and he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to slip away from these ones quite as easily as he’s able to in the future. Considering most of them were quite incompetent in their abilities and only caused chaos instead of real damage, like how most were able to in the past. He also felt like he was quite possibly up against something very dangerous and he regretted ever wearing that damned suit in the first place. He also knew he should be careful with what he says as well... Try too at least. 

There was a long silence between them the group as they just walked along. Occasionally, Rook and Tenor would bicker about something before being shushed by Guy. Finally, they walked around a corner and reached a building that looked a bit like the Coffee Shop back at home... Except, this one was more wide than tall and it was also connected to another building, but he didn’t really know what it was. It looked sort of like a Laundry mat from the looks of it, but he couldn’t tell. 

Soon, Jpg was ushered inside the building by Rook and once the doors were pushed open, he was immediately welcomed by the warm rich scent of Coffee and baked good. Looking around, there were a couple tables and seats around the shop and a good handful of islanders were sitting or standing around, talking to each other. The tables were a nice chestnut color and the seats had red cushions on them, similar to the seats back at home. The establishment was dimly lit, giving it a bit of a comfortable yet brooding atmosphere. There was music that played and it wasn’t at all like the one he knew. Unlike the Reggie music that played in the Coffee Shop at home, here it played a sort of Jazzy tune. 

Looking at the direction where the music was coming from, there wasn’t some sort of music player that was creating the music, it was an actual live band that was playing. About four people played up at a stage that was crudely created. Jpg watched the band, trying to figure out who they reminded him of as the other three passed the small crowd of islanders. Jpg guessed that this band thing was something that possibly happened on Sunday nights... Which he thought was pretty cool. Although, he did think the four that played at the stage looked strikingly familiar, but he didn’t have time to think about it before his attention was directed over to the other three. 

Tenor leaned close to Guy and quietly muttered something to him before strolling away, making his way towards another group of Islanders. They greeted him as if he were their long-time friend as he sat down with them, beginning a rather lively conversation with them. Jpg knew Tenor was immediately talking about him, judging from the hand movements he made towards him, Guy, and Rook. Some of the people in that group glanced up at Jpg and gave him a super bewildered look before going back to whatever they were talking about. 

Meanwhile, Guy and Rook speak to each other, discussing on what they should do. It was hard to clearly hear what they were saying, because of everyone else's chattering about, while the music played as a sort of background noise. Suddenly, Rook tapped Jpg’s arm, earning his attention. He pointed towards a door that was somewhat obscured by a wall and a curtain of beads, with a jukebox leaning against the wall. “Go there and knock, me and Guy has something to do, really quick.” Rook loudly ordered, so that Jpg could hear him. 

Jpg blinked at him and turned towards Rook and Guy, pointing at the door and feeling sort of confused and nervous. He pointed at the door, as if silently asking if that was the door he was talking about and in reply, Rook nodded. Jpg hesitated and turned around, staring at the entrance for a moment. He felt Rook lightly shove at his shoulder, encouraging him to go and causing him to stumble a little bit. Jpg sighed and began trekking over and glanced over his shoulder at the two, clearly hearing Rook speak to Guy. “Maybe the boss would think that he’s you... That’d really freak them out, huh?” he said with a chuckle. 

Guy frowned and quickly smacked Rooks arm with the back of his hand, saying something that Jpg wasn’t able to catch. However, he only raised an eyebrow at what Rook said and held his breath, pushing the bead curtain out of the way and lightly knocked at the door, straining his ears to hear if there was a reply, nearly placing his ear against the door. Soon, after a long pause, he heard a quiet “Come in” from the other side and hesitating once more, he slowly opened the door and peeked inside. 

The room was very dark and the only light he saw was from a desk lamp, but even that wasn’t giving off much light. It was the perfect amount of light for someone to see their work but not enough light for another person to see the person. This sort of lighting reminded him of those old Noir mystery movies his grandparents used to watch when he was younger. He looked over to the desk that sat in the back of the room and there he saw a figure sitting at the desk, their hands folded up at their mouth, almost as if they were thinking or expecting him to be here. Because of said lighting, it was hard to see who he was looking at, but he had to assume it was Guy’s and Rook’s boss he was told about by Tenor. 

Jpg cleared his throat and stepped in, quietly closing the door behind him. “Good evening.” The figure greeted in a bit of a hushed tone. A much calmer voice than Jpg was expecting, but then again, he wasn’t really sure what he was expecting anyways. “I assume you must be the aforementioned... ‘Other Guy’ I was told about.” they pointed out, emphasizing their words at the end of their sentence. 

Jpg nodded once. “Uh... Yeah, that’s me.” he guessed, feeling a little awkward. Soon, a thought came to mind and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and raised his finger. “What—how did you-?” 

“Nothing happens on this island without me knowing.” They interrupted. Jpg blinked at them and once again, cleared his throat. They obviously must have known about him from Tenor... However, it could be something else as well, but he didn’t have his doubts. “Where are the others?” they asked. Jpg blinked and slowly looked away in thought, his mouth slightly agape. 

He pointed behind himself and looked back over to the figure. “Guy and Rook?” he asked. The figure nodded. He shrugged and replied that they were outside doing whatever, admitting that he had no idea what they were doing. The figure didn’t respond, but Jpg was able to tell they were looking at him, obviously unimpressed. They then adjusted their seating and let out a deep sigh. 

“We may as well wait for the two.” They muttered. “For now, I have a few questions for you.” they continued. Jpg nodded in reply, agreeing to participate with their task. Although, a little nervous, he didn’t see anything wrong with just a few questions. However, right as they were about to ask their questions, there was a light knock at the door. The figure sighed in annoyance, slumping a bit in their chair. “I’m busy.” they called out, having a sharp tone to their voice. There was a short silence and the Figure sighed once more, shaking their head and was about to speak once more before there was a bit of chatter on the other side of the door. 

“It’s us, Guy and Rook.” Guy replied, his voice muffled. 

There was a short pause from the figure before they once again, sighed. “... Come in.” Jpg heard Guy and Rook briefly bicker with each other, from Rook asking what the figure said and Guy replying in an almost aggressive manner, telling Rook that it was okay to come in now, before the door opened. Quickly, the door opened and the two shuffled into the room, taking off their hats and closing the door behind them. 

Rook grinned at his boss and waved. “Good evenin’, boss!” he loudly greeted, possibly still adjusting from the loudness of the other room. Meanwhile, Guy only nodded as a greeting. 

Their boss only hummed in reply to their greetings. “I see you two had found this... Other guy.” they pointed out, gesturing their hand over to Jpg. “And what--” the paused and frowned a bit. “Where’s Tenor?” they asked, making Rook pause and think. 

“He’s just outside with his group at one of the tables.” Guy explained, sighing as he did. 

Their boss nodded, humming as they did and cleared their throat. “Anyways... What’s your name, sir?” they questioned, directing their attention back to Jpg. “I don’t believe you have told me just yet.” they continued, adjusting glasses Jpg had failed to notice before. Jpg replied, telling them his name, the same one he had told Guy and Rook. He felt a bit irked about having to reintroduce himself once again. The figure nodded at his reply. “Why are you here and what is the purpose of your get-up?” they asked. Jpg stopped at their question and blinked at them, unsure what to really say. 

He cleared his throat. “Well... I’m not sure why I’m here.” he admitted, telling them that he was brought here by Rook, Tenor, and Guy. However, the figure shook their head and told him that was not what they meant and reiterated their question, pointing out that they had never seen him on the island before. “Oh.” Jpg replied, feeling his face heat up a bit at his misunderstanding and cleared his throat once more. “I’m from... Out of town and I came to stay at the hotel until I find a way back home.” he corrected himself. He soon looked down at himself. “And... The get-up?” he questioned, looking back up at the figure. 

They nodded, humming as they did. “Yes. Why are you out here looking like one of my men?” they asked in a firm tone. 

Jpg blinked at them and shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just a coincidence for all I know.” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, guessing that he was a probably a doppelganger of some sort, which was super inconvenient, Jpg thought. He honestly had no idea why he could have looked a lot like Guy and the relative question came back to mind, as he wondered about that question. 

“Why are you here from out of town?” the figure asked. “Are you here for work related purposes? Visiting relatives?” they continued, leaning forward in their seat. Jpg felt a little irked at the questions the figure was asking, thinking that any of that was none of their business, since he never met them before. Although, Jpg looked up at the figure and shook his head at them. 

“No, I came here by mistake.” He admitted. “I’m stuck here and I don’t have a way back home until I find one myself...” Jpg breathed out a sigh and shrugged. “Either that, or my co-worker would find one before I do” he continued, referring to Gary. He did honestly hope that Gary would find him soon, because again, he had no idea how on earth he was going to make it back home. 

There was a long pause between him and the Figure. He could only imagine that they were expecting more out of him, but he honestly didn’t have a lot to tell them. It’s not like he could really tell them the entire truth, least he ends up with some weird time shenanigans Gary had told him about a long time ago. “Is that all...?” the figure asked, tilting their head slightly. Jpg paused for a moment before nodding at them, firmly telling them that, yes. That was all. 

Once more, another pause. Jpg and the figure watched each other and suddenly, the figure did a small hand motion at Rook and Guy, snapping their fingers as they did. Jpg furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head to look at the two, but was suddenly grabbed by Rook from behind, the taller man effortlessly picking him up off the ground and hooking his arms underneath his. Jpg yelped and kicked his legs around, struggling. “H-hey put me down!” he demanded, wiggling in Rooks hold. Soon, Guy walked up to him and began emptying out his pockets, tossing them onto his bosses' desk. “What are you doing?!” Jpg cried out wiggling much more vigorously as he tried escaping Rooks hold. 

There wasn’t much for Guy to pull out. He pulled out Jpg’s coins, a few reminders that were written down on the sticky notes, and his badge. There was a brief surprised look on Rooks face when Guy pulled out the coins. However, Guy didn’t seem to care and simply continued on as he skimmed through what sticky notes Jpg had. Some notes were reminders to himself to feed his pet goldfish, Flash; clean up his corner of papers back at home, pick up a new keyboard, and other sort of mundane things like that. Guy only raised an eyebrow at them but dropped them onto his bosses’ desk, who started going through them as well. Guy then looked over his badge and stared at it for a moment, with clear confusion on his face. 

“Hey—Wait, that’s mine!” Jpg shouted, trying to reach out for his badge to take it back, but was yanked away by Rook. Guy inspected it for another short moment before stepping towards the desk and handing it to his boss. The figure hummed at the sight of it and picked it up, curious as to what it was. 

They stared at it for a moment and pointed at the badge. “What is this?” they asked. Jpg soon slipped out of Rooks hold and landed back onto the floor with an annoyed huff and replied that it was his badge to the figure. They hummed and turned it back towards themselves, opening up his badge and revealing his Id’s inside. “So, you’re an agent at a Secret Organization called... The Elite Penguin Force?” they asked. Jpg nodded once again, keeping his eye on Rook. “Guy the Jet Pack Guy... Tactical Lead.” they continued. Jpg glanced over to Guy, who only stood there with his arms crossed. However, he didn’t react to what his boss had said. “I’m guessing you’re a lead agent of this... Elite Penguin Force, correct?” they guessed. Jpg nodded once in reply as the figure stared at his badge, quite possibly trying to find anything else about it. “Where and who exactly do you work for, Guy, the Jet Pack Guy?” the figured asked, lowering his badge and looking up at him. 

He stared at them for a moment, trying to think of a round-about way past their question and adjusted his shades, clearing his throat as he did. “My boss, who else?” he replied in a bit of a joking manner, giving a short chuckle as he did. However, his joke didn’t land to well. Only Rook was the one to react and he breathed out a short chuckle at him, while the other two stayed silent. Jpg shifted awkwardly as he immediately regretted saying that and thought he should have said something else completely different. He never was the one to crack jokes and he knew it was the completely wrong thing to say, considering this was a gang of some sort. There was a long awkward silence between the group and quite possibly the figure and the other two were most likely waiting for Jpg to take it back and explain to them. Although, Jpg had no intentions and he cleared his throat as he shifted in his spot. 

“You know what I mean, Jet Pack Guy.” the figure firmly stated, a hint of annoyance in their voice. Jpg hesitated, thinking if he should really just tell them anyways. It wasn’t like they could do anything in the past, but again he had to keep in mind about what Gary had told him about time travel and he didn’t really want to cause a huge difference in time and come back home, only for it to be different and having to go back and change whatever he did in the past and just create a whole mess. So, he wasn’t entirely willing to tell them anything beyond his name and position... Since they stole his belongings and had already rifled through them. 

“Well?” they pressed on, shifting in their seat. Jpg stared at them as they shifted around, obviously antsy, wanting Jpg to tell them what they wanted to know and soon, he saw their glasses reflect in the light. Jpg got the chance to see their eyes and immediately, he couldn’t help but think of those scenes in movies where it would only show the characters eyes. It was very surreal for him to see this in reality. Although, he was now aware this figure wore cat-eye glasses. 

In response to their question, Jpg glanced away towards a filing cabinet stood quietly. Mostly out of fear of causing some sort of weird time paradox or something like that while thinking of a lie of some sort. The figured hummed and tapped their desk, obviously a bit impatient. “Alright, Guy.” they breathed out, sighing as they did. “Where are you really from and why are you really here?” they inquired once again, slightly tilting their head a bit. "Quite obviously, you’re a cop of some sort... What’s your business here?” they pressed on, suspicious of Jpg. 

Jpg continued to think of something, his eyes wondering around the room for a lie of some sort to try and defuse the situation. On the wall, he saw a map and quickly pinpointed the first place he could recognize and compiled a lie on the spot as he fumbled around. “I do not have any sort of authority here.” Jpg protested, explaining that he cannot infringe upon this... groups activities, or whatever they’re doing; and that he was just passing through. "And as to where I’m from...” Jpg paused briefly, eyes once again wondering away in thought. “I’m from another country... Kelowna, Canada, specifically.” he lied, quiet obviously fumbling through his thoughts. 

Rook furrowed his eyebrows and gave Jpg a confuzzled look, asking Jpg if he really was a Canadian, seeming to be rather bewildered at just the thought of it. Jpg hastily nodded. “Yes.” he replied flatly, hoping they wouldn’t catch on that he was lying... And badly too. He doubted they would take it as the truth, but decided to just go with it since he was already this far into the whole lie. 

Suddenly, the figure flicked their wrist at Rook and Guy, as if they were silently giving them permission to do something and before Jpg could ask what they were doing, he was grabbed by his shoulder and forcibly turned around. Now facing the two, wide-eyed, Jpg was soon pushed backwards and practically shoved into a chair by Guy. 

Firmly, Guy pointed his finger at Jpg and placed his other hand onto his shoulder, making him lean back a bit away from his finger. “Listen up, Guy.” He hissed, emphasizing on Jpgs name. Alarmed, Jpg opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by his look-a-like applying pressure onto his shoulder, pressing a pressure point just by his neck. Jpg cringed at the feeling and wiggled uncomfortably, trying to slip away from Guys grip. “You’re lying... That's not where you’re actually from, isn’t it?” Guy questioned, staring down at Jpg with a bit of an intense glare. “You’re not actually Canadian, are you?” 

Quickly, Jpg shook his head, but soon started nodding, furrowing his eyebrows as he quickly confused himself with his own reply. “No, that’s where I’m from!” Jpg argued back, fumbling with his own thoughts and realizing that he wasn’t very good at lying on the spot, nor was he very good at trying to act like he wasn’t lying. He cursed to himself internally for not knowing that sort of trick. There was a long pause as Guy just stared at him with an extremely unimpressed look, as if he could see right through his completely transparent lie before he leaned away, rather exasperated. 

“Aight.” Guy sighed, looking over to Rook and flicking his head at him, as if instructing him to do something. He muttered about how he didn’t have the patience to continue speaking to this lying look-a-like of his under his breath, admitting that maybe this would get Jpg to speak. Jpg watched him step away and seen Rook approaching instead. He stared up at the tall man, almost a bit confused as to why Guy had let Rook come over. He was not entirely sure what was Rooks role was in this entire operation and admittingly kind of thought of this guy almost being like the Rookie he knew... That was until Rook aggressively grabbed him by his jacket, abruptly yanking him up from his seat and slamming him against the nearby wall, stunning Jpg as it happened. 

Jpg stammered as he tried collecting his thoughts, but things began going much too fast for him to really register that he was currently being getting beaten down by someone that basically looked like Rookie, which was very disorienting. In a jerk reaction, Jpg fought back, but found himself defenseless as he was practically clobbered by Rookies look-a-like. Each Jab, blow, and swing, Jpg was already seeing stars, clambering to try and defense himself in anyway. 

The Figure and Guy only watched as it happened, uninterested and waited for Rook to finish up his business, as if this was a normal thing that happened often. Meanwhile, Jpg cursed, shouted, yelled and swore during it all, yelping a few times as he did. Jpg soon was able to wriggle out of the man's grip but was immediately interrupted by Rook socking him in the face. Stumbling backwards, Jpg barely caught himself on a nearby cabinet, loudly slamming into it as he heard the Figure speak up, ordering Rook to be careful with their stuff and just like that, Rook yanked Jpg forward by his shirt and swung him away from the cabinet and into a more open area, causing Jpg to the tumble to the ground. 

Disoriented, Jpg glanced up and at the last moment, was able to dodge a stomp, rolling out of the way. He dizzily clambered up to his feet and once again dodged yet another attack, Rooks fist swinging through the air and making him clumsily stumble in that direction when he missed. Jpg turned around to throw a swing, but hesitated and Rook suddenly swung back around, spinning on one foot and clocking Jpg in the face. Rook roughly grabbed Jpg and threw him down, sharply kicking him in the stomach and effectively winding the smaller man. Once more, Rook sharply kicked him in the stomach, Jpg yelping and slowly curling up on the floor as he clutched his stomach. 

Jpg glanced up and saw Rook stepping towards him and immediately, Jpg gasped and raised his hands in defense. “I’m from the future!” he suddenly blurted out, his voice quavering as he did but sounding much more believable than he did before. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take much more and just wanted all of this to stop. It was all so disorienting and strange to see Rookies look-a-like act like this and he couldn’t bring himself to really hurt the guy at all. Rook stopped in his tracks and stared down at Jpg with a surprised, yet bewildered look. Jpg stared up at the man, keeping his hands up in front of him in defense and hoping that he wouldn’t do anything else. 

Guy frowned and crossed his arms. “Alright, how did you fail at lying at the plausible thing, but successfully sound like you're telling the truth about something out of a fuckin’ fairy tale?” he asked, stepping forwards towards Jpg, again. Jpg watched the smaller man approach, tense and a bit paranoid. “How do we know that you’re not just being a god dammed liar, hm?” Guy continued, telling Jpg that they would just have to continue to try and beat the truth out of him and that it really wouldn’t be much of a problem at all. 

“No, don’t!” Jpg shouted. “You have to believe me; I’m telling the truth!” he continued, pointing towards the figure as he did. “Look, my id even says, issued in 2000 and it expires in 2019 what do you want from me?!” he argued. The figure paused and picked up his ID’s and took a closer look at them again, and just as Jpg said, his ID’s were in fact issued in 2000 and expires in 2019. They hummed and started going through his stuff even more, seeing that his coins were minted in 1989 and that the sticky notes all referenced technology that doesn’t exist. Jpg quietly coughed and showed them his jacket, which even had a tag that said it was tailored in 2010. 

“You think I’m making this stuff up, but I’m not! I tried to tell you I was from Kelowna because making you believe I was from the future could result in terrible paradoxical catastrophes, but you just had to go and beat me up!” Jpg shouted, beginning to lift himself off the floor. He patted his mouth and nose and hastily looked at his hand and saw that he was bleeding, so he covered his nose and mouth again, sighing heavily as he finally stood up. He angerly pointed at the three with aggression, obviously not too happy about any of this. 

“So, if time itself fucking unravels because of your chronic need to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, don’t come crying to me!” he snapped, earning wide-eyed looks from the three. He sighed heavily and continued holding his nose, trying to stop himself from bleeding and getting it onto his suit, as he watched the three look over to each other with obvious looks of regret on their faces. 

The figure breathed out a heavy sigh through their nose as they thought about what Jpg had just told him. “If you’re from a hundred years into the future... How on earth did you end up here?” they asked, Guy and Rook agreeing with them and pretty much repeating what they just asked him. Jpg opened his mouth to reply but paused, giving a bit of confused look at himself. 

“... I don’t know.” he replied, still rather irked at all of this, but admittingly was very confused how he got here as well. How did he get here? That was something that still hadn’t been answered and all that he really knew was that there was fog and then a bright flash of light and then he was here, somehow. Rook frowned at his reply and echoed what he said under his breath to himself. Jpg happened to hear him and nodded in reply, pointing out that it all happened too fast for him to really figure out what was happening at the time. The figure sighed and asked Jpg to explain what he knows to them and hesitantly, Jpg nodded, stopping to think about what he all knew. 

He swallowed what little blood and saliva that had built up in his mouth as he explained, telling them that he was walking home after dropping off a co-worker in town, but had to turn back because another co-worker wanted to show him something ‘Fantastic’, apparently. Once more he paused to think and continued, explaining that there was a lot of fog that was extremely thick and he got lost within it. He had given his only flashlight he had to the co-worker he just recently dropped off. While wandering the fog, there was a sudden bright flash of light and then he walked into a tree, because he hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going and also because he couldn’t see. He pointed out that he found himself near a theater. “It was the theater that was just down the street from the hotel I’m staying at currently. I knew I wasn’t where I was previously because there is no theater from where I’m from.” he finished. 

A brief flash of confusion passed Rook’s face as he thought about what Jpg said. “No theater?” Rook asked. Jpg nodded once and explained that the stage was taken down in 2015, shrugging as he did. There was another long silence between them all as they processed what Jpg had just told them. Jpg then went onto to explain that he was only trying to find a way back home, but he practically had no ideas what-so-ever and could only hope that maybe his co-worker would pick up on his disappearance and hopefully pin-point where he could possibly be, since they were very well versed with time-travel. 

Guy scoffed and crossed his arms. “Well, what are we supposed to do about it?” he spat, aggression obvious in his voice. “Obviously, our technology is not nearly as advanced as yours?” Guy continued, exasperated at the whole situation. He pointed out the sticky notes and how there were tech that was mentioned on them that they never had heard of before. The figure and Rook agreed with Guy, nodding as they did, admitting that same fact. 

A frown tugged at the corner of Jpg’s mouth and he shook his head and shrugged. “Do I look like I know technology?” Jpg questioned. “I fight for a living, not build Time Machines!” he firmly stated, continuing to hold his nose and now glancing around if there were any sort of tissues around. As he did, he briefly thought about the ‘what-ifs’ and wondered to himself if he would ever be able to get back home and cursed to himself for not listening to all of Gary’s rambles about his Timer Trekker and all those math related things he talked about, thinking that if he just listened, he might have had some sort of base to go off of. 

The group stood around for a long moment, scratching their heads and trying to figure out what to do. Soon, the figure sighed, humming as they did. “If there is nothing else... Let’s send you out to the clockmaker and see what he can make of all of this.” They finished, pulling out a handkerchief from their pocket and handing it to Guy, who then handed it to Jpg. He was a bit taken back from what they suggested as he took the handkerchief and shouted, asking how a Clockmaker was going to help him. 

Guy to harshly punched his arm in response, Jpg jerking away as he covered his nose and mouth with the handkerchief. “Not a literal Clockmaker, you dunce!” Guy snapped, quickly explaining the clockmaker is an inventor they know of and pointed out that the man would most likely know something to help with Jpgs situation. “And you should be happy to be getting our help at all!” Guy finished. 

Jpg glared at them, beaten and bruised and very salty at all of this, but kept his mouth shut. The figure shook their head. “Try in the morning... I’m quite sure that our inventor is sleeping right about now... Perhaps.” they muttered, glancing over to a clock that sat on their desk. It was about 1 am and Jpg raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn’t realize that he was here for about an hour or two now and was a little surprised that time had gone by so fast. “You two go home and you go back to your hotel... We will continue this in the morning.” they ordered, standing up from their seat and pushing Jpg’s belongings towards the edge of the desk. 

Guy and Rook nodded, in response and Rook came up and swept the items into his arms and gave them back to Jpg, who then grabbed Jpg by his arms with Guy and practically dragged him out of the room as Jpg hastily shoved his items back into his pockets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JPG IS FUCKING D E A D


End file.
